Karolina Pliskova vs Maria Sakkari Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Stuttgart Open

Prediction published on 18/04/2023, 10:25  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 18/04/2023 at 11:25 in Tennis Predictions

Eighth seeded Maria Sakkari faces a tricky opening match in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. The Greek player has to get past unseeded Karolina Pliskova to reach the second round of this indoor clay court tournament. Whoever wins this first round match will take on either Ekaterina Alexandrova or Donna Vekic, both of whom are unseeded. Sakkari begins this event in ninth place but even if winning it, she can only climb as high as eighth. In the live WTA Race, the Greek is in 12th place but has reached three semi-finals in 2023. The most recent of those came in Indian Wells and on her way to the last four, she beat Karolina Pliskova in the last 16 but it took her three sets to do so. That was their sixth meeting and they are level at 3-3. It's 1-1 this year after Pliskova beat Sakkari in Dubai for the loss of just two games. They're also level at 1-1 in matches played on clay.

Karolina Pliskova is ranked 17th in the world and 15th in the Live WTA Race. The Czech slipped down the rankings last year but is gradually making her way back up them. Two quarter finals have been reached this year, including the Australian Open. The other was in Dubai where she pulled out of her scheduled last eight match against Iga Swiatek. Since then she's made it to the last 16 and last 32 in indian Wells and Miami. Now Pliskova (like her opponent) makes her seasonal clay court debut. There have been some tight matches between the pair and our tip here is to go for over 21.5 games in the match.