Maria Sakkari vs Anhelina Kalinina Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Indian Wells

Prediction published on 11/03/2023, 12:00  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 11/03/2023 at 13:41 in Tennis Predictions

Seventh seeded Maria Sakkari takes on the 27th seed Anhelina Kalinina in the Indian Wells third round. The winner will face either 11th seed Veronika Kudermetova or 17th seeded Karolina Pliskova in the last sixteen. Sakkari had a real struggle in her opening second round match against Shelby Rogers. It took her three sets to get the win after losing the first set 6-2. Sakkari recovered well to win the next set 6-4 and then didn't drop a single game in the decider. Sakkari began this week ranked seventh but is down two places in the live rankngs. That's because of all the points the Greek player has to defend after losing to Iga Swiatek in last year's Indian Wells final. Sakkari is up to 17th in the Live WTA Race after her second round victory.  Two of her last three tournaments have seen her reach the semi-final but lose in three sets. Her most recent event was in Dubai when losing to Karolina Pliskova and winning just three games. Sakkari has only played Kalinina once before. That was in Eastbourne last year with her opponent coming from a set down to beat her. However, that was played on a grass court.

Anhelina Kalinina began this tournament ranked a career high 29th and is up one place in the live rankings. Kalinina is also 29th in the ATP Live Race based on points earned this year. Highlights of her 2023 include a quarter final in Hobart and knocking Petra Kvitova out of the Australian Open before losing to Barbora Krejcikova in round three. It's been an inconsistent year for her with then world number 11 Veronika Kudermetova beaten in Dubai but two losses to players ranked outside the top 100. Kalinina beat unseeded Linda Fruhvirtova in her first match of this tournament but like Sakkari had to come from behind to do so. This may well be a tight match, go for over 21.5 games to be played.