Alex Michelsen vs Karen Khachanov Prediction: the Russian Athlete to Win in a Long Match

Prediction for the ATP Australian Open match between Alex Michelsen vs Karen Khachanov, which will take place on January 18th. Who will turn out to be stronger? Check the teams' conditions! Several betting options are available.

Alex Michelsen

Last season, the American was wrapping up the Next Gen tournaments. Alex made it to the final but lost to Tien, who'd already caused a stir in Melbourne by knocking out Daniil Medvedev, a finalist of the last AO. Before the AO-2025, Michelsen played two tournaments and five matches in Brisbane and Auckland, losing to Thompson and Basavareddy. Then in Melbourne, he beat Tsitsipas and McCabe. The match against James ended 7:5, 6:3, 7:6, with Mickelsen in the lead after two hours and 18 minutes. During the game, Alex made 8 aces with two double faults, winning 80% of points on the first serve and 70% on the second. Here are the reception stats: 28%/58%, winners/unforced errors stats 30/30.

Karen Khachanov

Karen finished last season at the Paris Masters, playing well and reaching the semifinals, but losing to Humbert. He knocked O'Connell, Mpetshi Perricard, Popyrin, and Dimitrov out of the draw. But then Khachanov started the new season poorly, losing his first match to Nishikori at the Hong Kong tournament. But in Melbourne, he defeated Mannarino (75th in the world) and Diallo (86th in the ATP rankings). The match against the latter went 7:6, 4:6, 6:3, 6:3, with Khachanov in the end. It was a pretty long match, lasting three hours and 17 minutes. During the game, Karen made 10 aces with one double fault, winning 79% of points on the first serve and 63% on the second. Reception statistics: 29%/54%, winners/unforced errors 43/26.

Expert Betting Tips

Mickelsen is doing really well; he beat Tsitsipas, who isn't exactly a slouch. But we doubt the American will be able to beat Karen Khachanov. The Russian is in good form, as we saw from his two opening matches at the tournament. Also, it's hard to compare the opponents by experience of playing in major tournaments, where the load is a lot higher than even at the Masters. We think Khachanov will get a confident win.

Prediction:

Sets TU (3.5) for 2.30

H2 (-1.5) for 2.10

CS 1:3 for 4.00