Australian Open: Hurkacz vs Sonego Prediction & Pick

TennisSection previews the 2023 Australian Open as Hubert Hurkacz takes on Lorenzo Sonego in the Round of 64 on Wednesday, January 18, 2023.

Hubert Hurkacz has never been to the third round at the Australian Open before, but he will change all that if he can tame the big-serving Lorenzo Sonego in the second round. Will the Pole prevail?

Hubert Hurkacz has had some disappointing losses in his Grand Slam career. He’s made the second week in a Major twice thus far, most memorably at Wimbledon 2021 as a semifinalist. Hurkacz is looking to address his recent woes at this level and he gave a much-improved display in his first round, taking Spain’s Pedro Martinez in straight sets. He did not face a break point in the match and now faces the big-serving Italian Lorenzo Sonego for a place in the third round of the Australian Open.

Lorenzo Sonego, meanwhile, battled past Portugal’s World No. 111 Nuno Borges in four sets. Sonego overcame a third-set blip to dominate the fourth, and will now be looking to emulate last year’s result of reaching the third round when he takes on Poland’s No. 10 seed Hubert Hurkacz.

At all levels, Lorenzo Sonego leads Hubert Hurkacz 4-2 in the head-to-head. The last two meetings have been won by the Italian, both close affairs including last season’s semifinal clash in Metz. So it’s clear, this is not the kind of matchup that Hurkacz enjoys. But with this match being played outdoors, maybe the Pole can have that extra time to put a lot more pressure behind his return and make it count. There has been at least one tiebreak set in five of their six meetings, so we can envisage this one going the distance with Hurkacz finally putting his dismal record at the Australian Open to bed.