McCartney Kessler vs Elina Avanesyan Prediction & Betting Tips - Hobart International

Prediction published on 09/01/2025, 08:21  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 09/01/2025 at 09:21 in Tennis Predictions

Despite all the shocks in Hobart this week, we could yet see a final contested by two seeded players. Sixth seed Elina Avanesyan takes on unseeded McCartney Kessler in the semi-final of this outdoor hard court tournament. Here's our match prediction.

The winner will be up against either second seed Elise Mertens or wild card Maya Joint in the final tournament.

Elina Avanesyan is up to 41st in the live rankings and that's a new career-high for the 22-year-old. This week has seen her defeat Wang Xiyu and qualifier Greet Minnen in straight sets. The last eight was due to see her take on the third seed Amanda Anisimova but her opponent withdrew.

McCartney Kessler has also set a new career-high this week. The American is up to 57th and is in her first semi-final since last August. That was when Kessler won the WTA tournament held in Cleveland, beating Beatriz Haddad-Mai in the final, one of three seeds she beat that week.

Last week saw the 25-year-old lose in round two of the Brisbane International. In Hobart, Kessler has had wins over seventh-seeded Rebecca Sramkova, qualifier Maria Lourdes Carle and then top seed Dayana Yastremska, all without dropping a set.

We go for over 20.5 games to be played.