Daily match picks

Yafan Wang 2.22, Marie Bouzkova 1.81

Quarter Final. Due to start at 6 pm

Wang won their only previous meeting. That was on a hard court in Acapulco in February last year. She won comfortably in straight sets.

Their 12 month results favour Bouzkova. Her hard court results are also stronger over the same period.

Bouzkova has won both her matches this week in straight sets. In the first round Lucky Loser Kristina Kucova put her under a fair amount of pressure and had 11 break chances. She was able to convert only 2 of those chances. The Bouzkova serve was much tighter in the second round ad she faced only 4 break points and was broken once by Karolina Schmiedlova.

Wang has not been in great form this season but has fought hard this week. She beat another out of form player, Astra Sharma, in 3 sets in the last round. In the first round she struggled to find her first serve although when it did find the court it was very effective. She still beat qualifier Lara Arruabarrena in 2 sets. Despite winning just 49% of her second serve points she only faced 3 break points and was broken twice.

Back Bouzkova around 2.00 to 2.20.

 

Kristie Ahn 2.86, Irina-Camelia Begu 1.52

Third round. Due to start around 8 pm.

This will be their first meeting.

Their 12 month overall results are even at 56% matches won. Begu has made a much better start to 2020 winning 11 of 15 (73%) of her matches. Ahn has won 50% of hers.

Their 12 month hard court results are also pretty even but Begu has again been stronger in 2020.

Ahn has not made a great start to the season although she has faced some tough opponents a few times. This week she was slight underdog against America’s Usue Maitane Arconada. She won in 3 sets winning her 2 sets very comfortably. Last season she also reached the third round where she lost to Kristyna Pliskova in straight sets after beating Sorana Cirstea in the second round.

Begu had a poor season in 2019 winning just 44% of her matches. She has made a much better start to 2020. She ended last season well on her favoured clay with a semi final and a final in ITF tournaments. That must have helped her confidence. When her confidence is high she is also a tough opponent on hard courts and her serve can be very effective. She won an ITF hard court title last month. The following week she retired from her second match in the Cairo ITF hard court tournament. She has had a couple weeks’ rest and seems to have recovered. This week she has beaten Mona Barthel and Taylor Townsend in straight sets.

I have to favour Begu to win but we will need a better entry price. Back Begu around 1.90 to 2.00.