Elise Mertens vs Daria Kasatkina Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA National Bank Open

Prediction published on 06/08/2023, 10:17  by Nella Wagah in Tennis Predictions

Tenth seed Daria Kasatkina and the unseeded Elise Mertens will rekindle their rivalry on Tuesday when they battle at the Canadian Open. The winner of this first-round tie will play either Anna Blinkova or Shuai Zhang, both unseeded, next. Elise Mertens lost in straight sets to Kasatkina a week ago in the first round in Washington. This was her last match and she will be eager for revenge. The Belgian has won twice in seven encounters with Kasatkina with the latest victory coming earlier this season in Miami. The win went to strengthen her hard-court campaign which has kept her season together. Mertens has struggled with inconsistency all through the year. She has compiled a 19-15 record with 13 of her victories coming on hard court. The surface has also seen the majority of her defeats. Mertens, who is ranked 29th in the live ranking, has made it as far as the quarterfinals in Montreal.

Daria Kasatkina has struggled with a lack of consistency as well in 2023 but she has fared better than Mertens. Coupling this with the fact that she has defeated Mertens five times, she will be confident of success here. Three of Kasatkina’s five victories in this fixture have come on hard court including the last in Washington. The Russian has compiled a 24-18 record this year but has struggled on hard court. On the surface, she has lost nine times in 15 outings. She has however managed one of her two finals so far on hard court. The 26-year-old was defeated in the very next round in Washington after winning against Mertens. She has dropped three places in the live ranking to 14th. Kasatkina also has one quarterfinal showing in Montreal as her best-ever finish here.