Noma Noha Akugue vs Arantxa Rus Prediction & Betting Tips - Hamburg, Germany, Qualifying

Prediction published on 29/07/2023, 01:10  by Nella Wagah in Tennis Predictions

Wildcard Noma Noha Akugue and seventh seed Arantxa Rus will on Saturday meet in the WTA Hamburg European Open final. It is the first time that both players have advanced to a tour final. This tournament has seen Noma Noha Akugue set several personal records. Aside from advancing to her first tour final, Akugue has made her main draw debut at tour level in Hamburg. She will hope to remain as calm against Rus as she has throughout the tournament. The German will have the benefit of having the crowd behind her but her record in finals suggests a tough outing. She has won only one of the eight ITF finals she has contested and has lost the last six. Akugue has been at her best playing on clay and it is where 14 of her 23 victories have come. In the previous round, she defeated Diana Shnaider in straight sets, her second 2-0 victory of the tournament. She is now up a massive 65 places to 142nd in the live ranking, a new career high.

Arantxa Rus has fared much better in finals than Akugue and should be highly confident of emerging as champion. The Dutch number one has played in five finals already in the ITF and Challenger circuits. She has triumphed four times with all four titles coming on clay, a surface she has absolutely dominated. Rus has compiled a 48-12 win-loss record with 39 of her victories coming in the 46 matches she has played on clay. To advance to her first tour final, the 32-year-old had to come from behind to outduel the qualifier Daria Saville 2-1. This was the third time in her four matches in Hamburg that she had lost a set. Her rise to the final has catapulted her into the WTA top 50 for the first time. She is currently ranked 49th in the live ranking.