Emiliana Arango vs Anastasia Potapova Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Mérida

Prediction published on 17/09/2023, 12:39  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 17/09/2023 at 13:39 in Tennis Predictions

11th seed Anastasia Potapova takes on unseeded Emiliana Arango in the Guadalajara Open first round. For the winner, there's a second round match against either Sloane Stephens or Ann Li. Potapova will be looking to continue the good form that saw her reach the last eight in San Diego last week. That included a win over Ons Jabeur who is the top seed in this hard court tournament. That was a welcome return to form for the Russian after some poor results in August. The Russian is now ranked 26th in the world, five places below her career high. Earlier this year, Potapova made it to the quarter finals in Miami, taking Jessica Pegula to a final set. Before that, she'd beaten Coco Gauff so her hard court form can be very strong. That was also shown in Linz seven months ago when winning the hard court title in Linz. That included a win over Marketa Vondrousova, so she's beaten both the Wimbledon and US Open champions this year.

Emilana Arango is 180th in the rankings and that's 14 places below the career high she achieved earlier this month. That's due to her dropping points from reaching an ITF semi-final last September. This is the first tournament for Arango since losing in the second qualifying round of the US Open last month. Her best form this year has come on clay with two semi-finals and a final. Hard court form has seen her play only 12 matches this year, winning six and losing the other half dozen. Our tip here is a straight sets win for Anastasia Potapova.