Maria Sakkari vs Karolina Pliskova Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Indian Wells

Prediction published on 14/03/2023, 00:20  by Kennedy Kechula in Tennis Predictions

Seventh seed Maria Sakkari and 17th seed Karolina Pliskova will for the sixth time in their careers face off on Tuesday in the fourth round of the ongoing Indian Wells Open on an outdoor hard court. Maria Sakkari made the final here last season and lost to Iga Swiatek by straight sets, this will be in the back of her head as she plots to go one better and win the tournament this year. The Greek number one has however looked a bit shaky at this year’s WTA Masters 1000 event as she has been forced to come back from a set down in each of her two matches at the tournament. She defeated unseeded Shelby Rogers 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 in the first round and followed that up with another come-from-behind win over 27th seed Anhelina Kalinina. Sakkari has had her moments this season but a lack of consistency has characterized her start to the year. She made it to the semifinals in Linz and Doha which are her two highlights of the year thus far.

Karolina Pliskova is ranked 17th in the world and a win over Sakkari could send her up to 15th which will be her season’s high. The Czech number three has won 15 of her 20 matches to start the season. She defeated 11th seed Veronika Kudermetova by straight sets of 6-1, 7-5 in the third round which was the perfect response to being forced to come from a set down by the unseeded Anna Kalinskaya in the second round. Her best-ever finish at Indian Wells was making the semifinals in 2016 and 2017. The former world number one was blighted by injuries in 2022 which coupled with a lack of fitness saw her plummet from the world’s top 10 and out of the top 30 to end the year. Pliskova has the edge on the head-to-head record with three wins to Sakkari’s two. Progressing from this round will set up a quarterfinal showdown with either third seed Jessica Pegula or 15th seed Petra Kvitova.