Danielle Collins 2.4, Sofia Kenin 1.70

Due to start at 4 am.

They have met twice before and Collins won both matches. Both matches were on hard courts in 2017. In November she won at the ITF tournament in Norman, USA in straight sets and it was also a straight sets win in October in the Tyler, USA ITF tournament.

Results in the last 12 months are stronger for Kenin. She won 67% of her matches compared to 58% for Collins. She also leads on hard courts with 71% matches won. Collins won 54% of hers.

Collins started 2019 very strongly with a very unexpected semi final at the Australian Open. the rest of her season was a little inconsistent. She has started 2020 well and made the quarter final in Brisbane last week. She was helped by terrible performances from Elina Svitolina and Yulia Putintseva. She was comfortably beaten by Madison Keys. keys didn’t face a single break point. This week she already has a win as underdog against Aliaksandra Sasnovich. Her first serve was excellent and she saved all 5 of the break points that she faced.

Kenin had a superb season in 2019. In this week last season she won the title in Hobart but has chosen not to go back there to defend her title. Last week she beat Anastasia Sevastova in straight sets and then took Naomi Osaka to sets. This week she had a very easy win over qualifier Viktorija Golubic.

Collins can be a fiery competitor especially if her opponent is not at their best. She can often roll over them and take full advantage. As we saw against Madison Keys last week when her opponent is on top of their game her loud aggressive demeanour just doesn’t have the same effect.

The week before a grand slam can be a tricky one in which to assess the players’ motivation but I think kenin will go for this one. Back her around 2.00. I’d expect one of the sets to be close.