Marketa Vondrousova vs Mirjam Bjorklund Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Mutua Madrid Open

Prediction published on 24/04/2023, 04:50  by Devesh Jaganath | Modified on 24/04/2023 at 06:49 in Tennis Predictions

Marketa Vondrousova and Mirjam Bjorklund will square off in the qualifiers of the WTA Madrid Open on Monday afternoon. Vondrousova, currently ranked 82nd in the world, comes into this tournament with a record of 15-6 for the year and will be full of confidence following her performances at the BJK Cup qualifiers last week, where she overcame the Ukrainians Katarina Zavatska and Marta Kostyuk in straight sets. The Czech has been consistent, if nothing else this year, only failing to make it past the opening round of a tournament once, which was in Dubai back in February. Since then, Vondrousova made it to the round of 16 at the Indian Wells and Miami Masters tournaments, with notable wins over the likes of Ons Jabeur, Veronika Kudermetova, and Carolina Pliskova, all in straight sets. The clay court has never been a favourite for the Serbian, having only played five matches on it since the start of 2022; however, she did beat this opponent in the W100 in Shrewsbury last year, where she went on to lift the title. That win, along with her positive start on the clay this year, will make her difficult to beat in this one. 

As for Mirjam Bjorklund, 2023 has proven to be a difficult year so far. The Swede has seen her rank slip to 139th in the world, with her best showing of the year coming in Austin, where she reached the round of 16. Following that tournament, Bjorklund reached the round of 64 at the Miami Open, but her undisputed best performance to date came in her opening match on the clay surface in Bogota, where she caused a major upset by knocking out the number one seed, Elise Mertens, in an incredible three-set match (6-1 4-6 7-6). However, she couldn’t follow up on that result, losing to Tamara Zidansek in the next round in straight sets. Bjorklund had a solid season on this surface last year, posting a positive record of 15-6, and she will be hoping that she can cause another upset in this one.