Paula Badosa vs Maria Sakkari Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Mutua Madrid Open

Prediction published on 01/05/2023, 03:58  by Daniel Ngulu | Modified on 01/05/2023 at 11:25 in Tennis Predictions

A place in the quarterfinals of the ongoing Mutua Madrid Open is up for grabs for either 26th seed Paula Badosa or ninth seed Maria Sakkari who clash on Monday in the fourth round. The two have met each other twice before and have each won once with Badosa winning the first encounter back in 2021. Badosa defeated Sakkari on her way to the semifinals of the WTA Finals in 2021 and will hope for the same outcome here and advance to her second quarterfinal in Madrid. The Spaniard’s best-ever finish here came in 2021 when she made it to the semifinals, the very same year she broke into the world’s top 10 after winning two of her three career titles. She is far from that form though after struggling with injury in the initial stages of the season and the dip in form that came after that has seen her drop out of the top 30. She is however slowly hitting her stride and is up to number 34 in the live ranking after arriving in Madrid ranked 42nd. Her third-round win over sixth seed Cori Gauff, where she allowed the American just three games in the straight sets win, highlights that she is slowly getting back to her usual self.

Maria Sakkari started the tournament with a comfortable straight-sets win over the qualifier Arantxa Rus but she looked shaky in her second match against the wildcard Rebeka Masarova. Sakkari was forced to come from a set down with the match taking two hours and 23 minutes which is more than an hour longer than it took Badosa  to win her respective third round match. Sakkari is advancing to the fourth round for the first time in what is her seventh appearance in Madrid. The world number nine has been decent so far in the season and has won 17 of the 25 matches she has played. This has allowed her to play in three semifinals in Linz, Doha and Indian Wells. The Greek number one defeated Badosa, who was at the time the defending champion, in the semifinals at Indian Wells last season to reach her first WTA 1000 final and should feel confident of replicating this here and setting another first for herself. The winner here will proceed to the last eight where a battle with either 14th seed Liudmila Samsonova or 31 seed Irina-Camelia Begu awaits.