Jaqueline Cristian vs Kateryna Baindl Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Prague Open

Prediction published on 03/08/2023, 06:08  by Nella Wagah in Tennis Predictions

World number 122 Jaqueline Cristian and eighth seed Kateryna Baindl will face off on Friday in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Prague Open. Cristian is making her second appearance here and began the tournament in superb fashion. The Romanian shocked top seed and defending champion Marie Bouzkova by winning their first-round tie in three sets. Cristian had won only one match on hard court this season before arriving in Prague. She followed that morale-boosting victory with a straight sets triumph over the qualifier Emiliana Arango in the last round. This has taken her tally on hard court to three wins and five defeats and also bumped her up the live ranking. She is now up 19 places to 103. The 25-year-old has compiled a 32-18 win-loss record so far in 2023 and has won three ITF titles. She however has struggled with her form recently and has managed only three wins in her last 10 outings. Cristian defeated Baindl in their only encounter to date six years ago in Bucharest.

Kateryna Baindl is in fine form at the moment. The Ukrainian has won six of her last seven matches and arrived in Prague after finishing as runner-up in Budapest. This was her first final of the season and ended a more than five-year wait for a tour final appearance. It is the best form she has been on all year and she will hope to prolong this momentum. Baindl saw her second-round showdown with Jule Niemeier end prematurely when the German was forced to retire in the first set. This was some sort of reprieve for Baindl after her opening round tie had lasted for over two hours. She will now hope the time off allows her to dominate this encounter with Cristian. Baindl has struggled so far this year and has lost more matches, 13, than the 12 she has won. On hard court, she has fared a bit better with five victories in eight outings. It is also the only surface she has a winning record on. She is up 12 places to number 86 in the live ranking.