Pavel Kotov vs Flavio Cobolli Prediction: Pavel will be closer to victory

In the Australian Open, Russia's Pavel Kotov, the 65th ranked player in the world, will face Italy's Flavio Cobolli, currently No. 100 in the world rankings. The guys have crossed paths twice before on tour, and both head-to-head meetings were won by the Italian. Despite these statistics, bookmakers are on Kotov's side in the pairing, believing that Pavel will be closer to victory.

Pavel Kotov struggled in the first round of the Australian Open tennis championship but beat Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech in five sets. Pavel had a 2:0 lead in the game but lost the third and fourth sets on tie-breaks and won the fifth set 6:3. During the game, Kotov made nine aces with four double faults and won 74% of points on the first serve and 56% on the second. As you can see, Kotov played a quality match and won a well-deserved victory over the Frenchman.

Flavio started the AO with qualification, knocking out Australian Jin, German Hassan, and Argentine Rodriguez Taverna. In the first round of the main draw, Cobolli was stronger than Chilean Harri, beating him in five sets. This result can be called a sensation, as he is ranked 18th in the ATP rankings. The score of that meeting was 6:4,3:6, 6:3, 2:6, and 7:5 in favor of the Italian. Cobolli made 14 aces and four double faults during the game, winning 73% of points on the first serve and 52% on the second.

Despite the statistics of head-to-head meetings, we believe that bookmakers have put up a quite adequate line for the upcoming match. Firstly, the head-to-head was in 2021. More than two years have passed since then, and Kotov has improved a lot in that time. Secondly, both head-to-head meetings were played in Cobolli's home country, and the upcoming match will be on Australian soil. Kotov can take revenge on Flavio for his two defeats in 2021. Moreover, we won't be surprised if the victory will be confident and won't take more than four sets.