Karolina Muchova vs Belinda Bencic Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Mutua Madrid Open

Prediction published on 29/04/2022, 04:57  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 29/04/2022 at 16:38 in Tennis Predictions

11th seeded Belinda Bencic takes on Karolina Muchova in the Madrid Masters second round. Up next for the winner of this match is a third round tie against either eighth seeded Ons Jabeur or qualifier Varvara Gracheva. Bencic is the world number 13 which is 15 places higher than she was in March. Her rise in the rankings came after reaching the last eight in the Miami Masters and then winning the Credit One Charleston Open on clay, beating Jabeur in the final. Wins that week were also earned over Paula Badosa and Madison Keys so Bencic will again be a threat in this clay court event. The first round in Madrid saw the Swiss player get a comfortable straight sets win over qualifier Inna-Camelia Begu.

Karolina Muchova is ranked 67th but has a career high ranking of 19th earned last year. Muchova has dropped out of the top 60 after missing time on the circuit due to injury that saw her not play from last September until the Miami Masters in March of this year. Muchova reached the last 32 but then withdrew from her match against Naomi Osaka. On her day, Muchova can be top class and last year reached the semi-finals in the Australian Open and the last eight in New York. She also got to the quarter finals of this event in 2021 but has only ever reached one clay court final on the WTA circuit and that was three years ago in Prague. This week has seen her beat wildcard Zheng Qinwen but it took her three sets to do so after winning just one game in the opening set. Back Bencic to get the win here but look out for Muchova as she gets more matches under her belt in the coming months.