Maria Sakkari vs Petra Kvitová Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Indian Wells

Prediction published on 15/03/2023, 06:41  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 15/03/2023 at 08:53 in Tennis Predictions

Petra Kvitova is the 15th seed and faces seventh seeded Maria Sakkari in the Indian Wells quarter final. The winner of this match will take on either Coco Gauff  or Aryna Sabalenka. Kivtova caused a shock in the last round when defeating third seeded Jessica Pegula, A third-set tie-break was needed for the Czech to progress after losing a one-set lead. That win sees Kvitova up to 12th in the live rankings and she'll move up to 11th with a win here. Kvitova hasn't had the best of years so far and this is only her second quarter final in 2023. The only other one was in January so it's been a decent wait for the Czech. Two seeds have been beaten by her in this tournament with 24th seeded Jelena Ostapenko beaten in round three. This is her eighth match against Sakkari with the Greek leading 4-3. Sakkari has won the last two with the most recent being in this tournament last year losing only three games.

Maria Sakkari started this tournament in seventh place but is down to ninth in the live list. That's because the 27-year-old reached the final here last year, so lots of points to defend. 2023 hasn't been so successful for her but this run to the Indian Wells quarter final has her up to 14th in the WTA Live Race which is four places higher than her opponent. A win over Kvitova will take Sakkari into her third semi-final of the year. The others came in Linz and Doha. This tournament has seen the Greek struggle in each of her matches. All three have gone to a final set and only against Karolina Pliskova in round four, has she won the first set. Over 21.5 games being played is our tip here.