Marketa Vondrousova vs Aryna Sabalenka Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Adelaide

Prediction published on 04/01/2023, 06:57  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 04/01/2023 at 07:58 in Tennis Predictions

A place in the semi-finals of the Adelaide International is on the line her as second seeded Aryna Sabalenka takes on unseeded Marketa Vondrousova. The Belarusian hasn't won a title since the Madrid Open in May 2021. Three finals were lost last year on three different surfaces. That included being beaten by Caroline Garcia in the WTA Finals after beating Iga Swiatek and Ons Jabeur. The lack of a title didn't help her ranking after beginning the year in second place. Sabalenka began this year as the world number five but will stay in that position even if winning this tournament. Winning a tournament early in the year would be a big boost for Sabalenka. She'll be hoping for a better run in the Grand Slam tournaments in 2023 and Sabalenka is still to reach a final. She did get close last year though when reaching the last four in New York as her form improved in the second half of 2022. Last year got off to a slow start with losses in both of the Adelaide tournaments to players ranked outside the top 90. It's gone better this year with a win over Liudmila Samsonova in straight sets, though both went to tie-breaks.

Marketa Vondrousova has lost three of her previous five matches against Aryna Sabalenka. The most recent meeting was in the 2022 Australian Open with Sabalenka winning in three sets. That was the third win in a row for the Belarusian and Vondrousova hasn't had a win since 2018. The Czech is down at 92nd in the rankings but was granted direct entry into this tournament due to her protected ranking. A year ago, Vondrousova was ranked 35th in the world but by October was down to 124th after missing several months due to injury. Vondrousova missed the final three Grand Slams of 2022 not playing between April and October. An ITF tournament was won in November. So far in Adelaide, Vondrousova came from behind to beat eighth seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova and followed that up with a straight sets win over unseeded Kaia Kanepi. This is far tougher, back Sabalenka to reach the semi-finals and a possible clash with fourth seeded Veronika Kudermetova.