Maiar Sherif Ahmed Abdelaziz vs Coco Gauff Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Cincinnati Open

Prediction published on 16/08/2023, 11:10  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 16/08/2023 at 12:21 in Tennis Predictions

in-form Coco Gauff begins her Western & Southern Open campaign with a second round match against Mayar Sherif. Gauff is the seventh seed in this outdoor hard court WTA 1000 tournament. The 19-year-old recently won the Washington hard court title and reached the last eight in Montreal losing to her doubles partner and eventual winner of that tournament, Jessica Pegula. Gauff has won six of her last seven matches since a first round exit at Wimbledon. Her win in Washington made it two titles won in 2023. Both have been on hard courts and the other was at the start of the year in Auckland. In the Live WTA Race, the teenager is also in seventh position. The winner of this match will take on either ninth seeded Petra Kvitova or qualifier Linda Noskova in the last 16.

Mayar Sherif is ranked 33rd in the latest list. This run to the second round in Cincinnati has taken her to 32nd and that's one place below her career high achieved in June of this year. The Egyptian had lost three matches in a row before beating Wang XIyu in the first round. That was a tight match with two tie-breaks. Sherif owes her high ranking to her form on clay rather than hard courts. The last eight of the Madrid Masters was reached this year and a WTA 125 tournament won. Her best performance on hard courts this year has been a quarter final in Monterrey but no top 60 players were beaten. This is her first match against Gauff and we believe the American will win it in straight sets.