{"id":393570,"date":"2026-01-25T14:31:29","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T19:31:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/?p=393570"},"modified":"2026-01-25T14:31:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T19:31:30","slug":"australian-open-tennis-predictions-jan-25-26-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/australian-open-tennis-predictions-jan-25-26-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Open fourth-round predictions: Best bets for Shelton vs. Ruud, Rybakina vs. Mertens"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Australian Open fourth round is coming to an end, with several great matches starting Sunday evening ET and rolling through the morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The pregame narrative:<\/strong> Ben Shelton and Casper Ruud are locked into what should be an epic battle for the final men&#8217;s quarterfinal spot. On the women&#8217;s side, Elena Rybakina is a big favourite over Elise Mertens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Check out my top Australian Open fourth-round predictions for Jan. 25 and 26. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\"><strong>-&gt; <a href=\"https:\/\/online.northstarbets.ca\/page?key=ej0xMzUyNDU3MiZsPTEzNjY1NzMyJnA9MzExMjU%3D\">Join NorthStar Bets &amp; bet on the Australian Open<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Australian Open fourth-round predictions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Best bet: Shelton over 21.5 games won (-105)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is my favourite way to back Shelton without paying -167 juice or taking his game spread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I fully expect this match to go at least four sets, meaning Shelton will have plenty of opportunities to rack up games if he can stay hot on his service games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The American has been on a tear this tournament, winning every set while only being broken twice. Check out his service game rankings among players with two-plus matches:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>1st in second-serve won percentage (66%)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>4th in aces per match (16.3)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>6th in first-serve won percentage (81%) <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Ruud is a better defensive player than Shelton, with a strong serve of his own. I expect the Norwegian will push Shelton deep into sets and probably nab one by securing a few key break points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But ultimately, Shelton&#8217;s wicked serve should be the deciding force in this match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\"><strong>-> <a href=\"https:\/\/online.northstarbets.ca\/page?key=ej0xMzUyNDU3MiZsPTEzNjY1NzMyJnA9MzExMjU%3D\">Check out the fourth-round Australian Open schedule<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These two have battled three times, with Ruud winning the last two iterations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The most recent battle fell Ruud&#8217;s way 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 in 2024. Shelton is a much better player now, and I can&#8217;t picture him losing three sets by enough games to fall under this mark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key stat:<\/strong> Shelton has gone over this game total in all five grand-slam matches vs. players 10-20 in the ATP rankings (Ruud is 13th). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading acq_only\">Australian Open pick: Rybakina vs. Mertens best bet<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rybakina -5.5 (+132):<\/strong> Rybakina has been demolishing players left and right lately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Kazakhstani is 2-1 against this line at the Australian Open, winning all three matches by at least five games. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>She also covered this line in two of three matches at the Brisbane Invitational and three of five matches at the 2025 WTA Finals en route to her first title. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>That includes a 6-3, 7-6 win over world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\"><strong>-> <a href=\"https:\/\/online.northstarbets.ca\/page?key=ej0xMzUyNDU3MiZsPTEzNjY1NzMyJnA9MzExMjU%3D\">Bet on Rybakina in the fourth round of the Australian Open<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\">Mertens is on a great run of her own, but hasn&#8217;t been tested against an elite player. The Belgian beat the WTA No. 131, 88, and 126th-ranked players this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rybakina is 6-1 against Mertens, covering this spread in three of the last five matchups (and landing on a five-game win in one of the outliers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\"><strong>-&gt; <a href=\"https:\/\/online.northstarbets.ca\/page?key=ej0xMzUyNDU3MiZsPTEzNjY1NzMyJnA9MzExMjU%3D\">See the latest betting lines for today&#8217;s Australian Open matches<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Australian Open tennis predictions made at 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 25, 2026.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\"><strong>-&gt; <a href=\"https:\/\/online.northstarbets.ca\/page?key=ej0xMzUyNDU3MiZsPTEzNjY1NzMyJnA9MzExMjU%3D\">Sign up to NorthStar Bets today<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Australian Open fourth round is coming to an end, with several great matches starting Sunday evening ET and rolling through the morning. The pregame narrative: Ben Shelton and Casper Ruud are locked into what should be an epic battle for the final men&#8217;s quarterfinal spot. On the women&#8217;s side, Elena Rybakina is a big [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":393579,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sidebar_plugin_meta_block_field":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[128],"class_list":["post-393570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tennis","tag-tennis"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Australian Open fourth-round predictions: Jan. 25-26 | The Boost<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Check out our 2026 Australian Open fourth-round predictions. 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