Australian Open 2022: Paula Badosa vs Madison Keys preview, head-to-head and prediction

Match Details

Fixture: [8] Paula Badosa vs Madison Keys

Date: 23 January 2022

Tournament: Australian Open

Round: Fourth round (Round of 16)

Venue: Melbourne Park

Category: Grand Slam

Surface: Hard

Match timing: 11 a.m. local time, 12 a.m. GMT, 5.30 a.m. IST

Prize Money: $75,000,000

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Eurosport | India - Sony Six, Sony Liv

Paula Badosa vs Madison Keys preview

Paula Badosa takes on Madison Keys in the fourth round of the 2022 Australian Open

World No. 6 Paula Badosa will take on Madison Keys in the fourth round of the Australian Open on Sunday.

The Spaniard enjoyed an impressive 2021 season during which she won at Indian Wells and reached the semifinals of the WTA Finals in Guadalajara. Badosa's performances saw her finish the year as World No. 8.

The 24-year-old started 2022 at the Adelaide International as the fourth seed but lost in the first round to Victoria Azarenka. She then competed at the Sydney International, seeded fifth.

Straight-set victories over Jelena Ostapenko and Ajla Tomljanovic earned Badosa a spot in the quarterfinals where she beat Belinda Bencic in three sets. The Spaniard then beat the in-form Daria Kasatkina 6-2, 6-2 to reach the final.

Badosa faced Barbora Krejcikova in the title match and won a thrilling contest that lasted nearly two-and-a-half hours to win her third WTA title. This helped her reach a career-high ranking of No. 6.

Badosa is the eighth seed at the Australian Open and had little trouble beating Tomljanovic and Martina Trevisan to reach the third round. Against Marta Kostyuk, Badosa took the first set 6-2 but the Ukrainian fought back to win the second 7-5. In the end, the Spaniard held her nerve to take the third set and seal her place in the fourth round.

Madison Keys started 2022 at the Melbourne Summer Set before competing at the Adelaide International 2, where she beat second seed Elina Svitolina 6-2, 6-4 in the first round. The 26-year-old then beat Tereza Martincova before surviving a scare from Liudmila Samsonova to reach the semifinals of the competition.

Keys came from a set down to beat third seed Coco Gauff and reach the final. The former US Open runner-up won the sixth title of her career by beating compatriot Alison Riske in the final.

Keys started the Australian Open with a win over 11th seed and 2020 champion Sofia Kenin. She followed this up with a straight-sets win over Jacqueline Cristian to reach the third round.

The 26-year-old came from a set down to beat Wang Qiang 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(2) and reach the fourth round of the Major.

Paula Badosa vs Madison Keys head-to-head

The pair will square off for the first time on Sunday, so the head-to-head currently stands at 0-0. The winner will meet either fourth seed Barbora Krejcikova or former World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals.

Paula Badosa vs Madison Keys prediction

Keys has already beaten a seeded player in the competition and the comeback win over Wang will definitely lift her spirits. However, Badosa has been in sensational form since her defeat to Azarenka in Adelaide.

The Spaniard has been extremely dominant so far and has troubled opponents with her powerful groundstrokes. While Badosa's serve is a weapon, she has to reign it in slightly given she has served 14 double faults, nine in her match against Kostyuk alone.

Keys will also rely heavily on her serve and groundstrokes to trouble the eighth seed. Badosa will look to draw unforced errors out of the American, who made a whopping 50 in her last match.

Keys has had a good run so far but Badosa might be too hot to handle and the Spaniard should prevail to reach her second Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Prediction: Paula Badosa to win in straight sets.