THERE are plenty of tantalising matchups for the first day of the third round at Melbourne Park, and Draft Central has picked out five possible clashes that are not to be missed.

PICK OF THE DAY: Marin Cilic (CRO) vs. [9] Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP)

Our Pick of the Day for Day 5 by far is the clash between Marin Cilic and ninth seed, Roberto Bautista Agut. Aside from the fact these two are in ripping form themselves – Bautista Agut is still undefeated – this will be the third time the pair has met at Melbourne Park. On both occasions, the Spaniard has got the chocolates with a third round win back in 2016, before meeting last year in the fourth round which resulted in an epic five set match. Last year’s encounter took almost four hours to decide, with Bautista Agut getting up 6-7 6-3 6-2 4-6 6-4 and spectators heading in on Friday should expect a similarly close contest. While the world number nine has the wood on Cilic at Melbourne Park, the Croatian actually leads the head-to-head 4-2, having won in each of the other four encounters. Three of those were on hard court and all of those wins were in straight sets between 2014-2017. Given Cilic’s start to the tournament, he will give Bautista Agut a huge challenge and the winner will be a well deserved fourth round player.

CLOSE SECOND: [18] Alison Riske (USA) vs. Julia Goerges (GER)

These two evenly matched opponents played twice last year with a 1-1 head-to-head. While Riske highest ranking is 18th (currently 19th), the 39th ranked Julia Goerges entered the top 10 back in 2018. While Goerges is two years older at 31, she is a player who can go deep in an Open with her top-end talent and consistency a clear feature of her game. She won at Doha in three sets early in the year last year, winning 6-1 6-7 6-4 against Riske, before the American returned the favour at Dubai with a straight sets win, 6-4 7-5. Goerges leads the overall head-to-head 2-1 having won back in 2017, but this match could go either way though Goerges will be confident after her win over 13th seed, Petra Martic.

OTHERS TO CONSIDER:

John Millman (AUS) vs. [3] Roger Federer (SUI)

Even the most diehard Aussie fan would not be expecting John Millman to cause a boilover here against the six-time champion, Roger Federer. Considered the greatest of all-time, Federer rarely loses at Melbourne Park, and certainly not before the final few days. But what some might have forgotten is Millman has beaten the Fed Express at a Grand Slam, albeit at the US Open back in 2018. He won 3-6 7-5 7-6 7-6 in the tightest of circumstances, but that will be the only way the 47th ranked Australian can topple the Swiss Master. He will not serve him off the court, so instead has to play sensibly. One aspect you know with Millman is his competitive nature and he will keep fighting all day long, so expect Federer to at the very least, have to go to another gear to see off the Queenslander.

Diego Schwartzman (ARG) vs. [27] Dusan Lajovic (SRB)

This is an interesting clash for the fact that these two met here two years ago and produced a memorable five-set encounter. On that day, Diego Schwartzman defeated Dusan Lajovic 2-6 6-3 5-7 6-4 11-9 in four hours of match play. That was only in the first round, so now with a couple of wins under their belts, these two are confident heading into the clash with neither dropping a set in the opening two rounds. The 14th seed also triumphed back in 2017 on clay, reversing the result that saw Lajovic win two years earlier in the Davis Cup. Neither of these players are big servers, so the shot play and tennis IQ will be top notch and worth watching.

[1] Ash Barty (AUS) vs. [29] Elena Rybakina (KAZ)

If exciting, hard-hitting tennis is your go then you cannot look past world number one Ash Barty taking on one of the WTA Tour’s rising stars. Elena Rybakina has had a terrific 2020 season thus far, winning at Hobart after making a final at Shenzhen and is best placed to try and cause a boilover. Barty has had some lapses of form in games this season, but still triumphed at Adelaide on the same day Rybakina lifted the trophy down south. The world number one will go in as favourite because of her greater efficiency and ability to hold serve, but Rybakina will not leave anything out on the court with her penchant for plenty of winners – though that leads to unforced errors too. Either way, a match not to be missed and will be a benchmark for where Rybakina is at having entered the top 30 this year for the first time.