Australian Open: Garcia vs Linette Tennis Prediction & Pick

TennisSection previews the 2023 Australian Open as Caroline Garcia takes on Magda Linette in the fourth round on Monday, January 23, 2023.

After breaking new ground on Saturday, Magda Linette will attempt to fly the Polish flag high. But she faces an almighty task of taking on one of the tournament favorites Caroline Garcia. Who will book their place in the last eight of the Australian Open?

It was not vintage Caroline Garcia in the first week of the Australian Open, but if there is a harsh lesson that Garcia has taught us throughout her career is to never write her off. Granted Garcia was in sixes and sevens at times in her win over Siegemund, she did apply some in-play adjustments to her game to combat the unorthodox German and turned the match around. The Frenchwoman knows at this stage of the tournament there won’t be second chances and the field is open to crown a potential first-time Grand Slam winner. Can she navigate her way past an in-form Magda Linette?

Magda Linette, for her part, has advanced into the second week of the Australian Open for the first time. It has taken Linette quite a bit of time to scale the third-round hurdle at a Grand Slam having lost at that stage six times before Saturday. But a clinical win over Ekaterina Alexandrova means that she has now won six of her past eight matches in 2023 and is the sole Polish player remaining in singles action (in both men’s and women’s draws).

Caroline Garcia leads Magda Linette 1-0 in their head-to-head. That match was played on the clay in Strasbourg in 2017 with Garcia winning in straight sets. In three matches in the opening week, Linette was pitted against the WTA’s heavy hitters and has come up with the perfect antidote to absorb their power and redirect the ball with consistent depth. Garcia is in the mold of the likes of Kontaveit and Alexandrova, playing at a frenetic pace and with explosive power off the ground, but she does have a lot more variety than that class of opponents Linette has beaten convincingly. It would take an extraordinary effort and performance by the Pole to win this one.