Australian Open fourth round: Murray out for Dimitrov revenge

Day seven of the Australian Open sees new tournament second-favourite Andy Murray (9/2) face a Grand Slam rematch against younger counterpart Grigor Dimitrov (25/1) in the fourth round.

The Bulgarian rising star (2/5 for victory) ran all over a jaded Murray (odds-on at 3/10) in the quarters at Wimbledon last year, beating the Scot in three sets, but he knows he won’t have it so easy this time.

Speaking ahead of the tie of the round, Dimitrov, who is 10/1 for another 3-0 triumph, said: “That day it was not him out there. I think we all know that.

“You hardly ever see top players feel really flat early on in a match. It’s a different scenario this time.”

Murray, meanwhile, made no excuses of his performance last summer, and is raring to go again. “I try to look forward,” he said. “It happens in every job, every part of life; sometimes you have bad days.

“I don’t feel like I played my best tennis that day. The first week of Wimbledon I played some really good tennis, it was just unfortunate.

“I’ve trained hard, I’ve prepared well to get ready for this event and this year. I feel like I’ve played some good tennis so far. Hopefully I’ll do the same on Sunday.”

Murray is a tempting 5/2 chance to win the match 3-1, and thus set up a quarter-final date with one of Nick Kyrgios or Roger Federer’s surprise conqueror Andreas Seppi. The young Australian is odds-on at 4/6 to beat the latter (11/10).

There is another home hope on day seven in Bernard Tomic (12/5), who faces off against Tomas Berdych (3/10), while Rafael Nadal (1/3) takes on giant South African Kevin Anderson (9/4). Spanish great Nadal is a 6/1 chance to win his second Australian Open title.

In the women’s draw, Romanian Simona Halep (5/1 tournament chance) is continuing her quest for a maiden Grand Slam title superbly, as she is yet to drop a set so far. She is next up against Belgian Yanina Wickmayer, and is heavily odds-on at 1/14 to beat her, and 1/4 to win 2-0 once more.