Defending Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner had to overcome illness and sweltering conditions to defeat Holger Rune in four sets in the last 16, but he may be able to enjoy an easier passage past quarter-final opponent Alex De Minaur.
Sinner has now won 21 consecutive matches and, providing he is feeling fresher than he did against Rune, it is hard to see him spurning this opportunity.
Australian ace De Minaur will have the home crowd on his side but he has never made it past the quarter-final of a Grand Slam, losing in all four previous match-ups, and Sinner has the class to quickly silence the Melbourne Park faithful.
De Minaur will be well aware that he has never been able to defeat Sinner, losing all nine meetings, and he should be fearing the worst in this quarter-final encounter.
Having won the Australian Open last season before following up at the US equivalent, the 23-year-old will have high hopes of making it three Grand Slam successes this week.
Jannik Sinner to win 3-0 - 6/5
De Minaur will have the full backing of a raucous Melbourne Park crowd but it may count for little against the world number one, who has won all nine of the pair's previous meetings and lost only one set in the process.
This is just their second meeting in a Grand Slam but Sinner eased past the Australian 7-6 6-3 6-4 at the Australian Open three years ago and the gulf between them now is arguably much greater.
That is because the Italian is now a two-time Grand Slam champion and his 21-match unbeaten run highlights how difficult it is going to be for De Minaur to finally crack the Italian.
Sinner should be feeling in better shape than he did against Rune, yet he still found a way to win despite batting illness in what were blistering conditions.
So expect the top seed to prolong De Minaur's wait for a Grand Slam semi-final appearance and it may come in the shape of a straight-sets victory.
The Aussie has won only one set in their nine previous meetings and that came on a hard indoor court in Sofia way back in 2020, when his opponent was an inexperienced teenager.
But now, Sinner is tennis' dominant force and he can show that with a 3-0 win.
A slow start for De Minaur and this may be over very quickly.
Under 6.5 aces for Alex De Minaur - 8/11
If Sinner wins comfortably as expected, then home favourite De Minaur may struggle to reach seven aces, especially given the fact that the Italian is one of the best returners in the business.
De Minaur's ace totals in this tournament have been 13, six, seven and five but Francisco Cerundolo is the only seeded player he has faced so far and this is evidently a much tougher task.
Sinner restricted Rune to only five aces in his 3-1 win in the last 16, while third-round opponent Marcos Giron managed only two, and the home hope is not renowned for having an explosive serve.
Interestingly, in the last six meetings between the pair, De Minaur has gone beyond six aces only once and a 3-0 victory for Sinner would make toppling that total extremely difficult.
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Jannik Sinner - 1/6
Alex de Minaur - 4/1
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.