Petra Martić vs Katie Boulter Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Eastbourne International

Prediction published on 26/06/2023, 15:40  by Devesh Jaganath in Tennis Predictions

World number 30 Petra Martic will take on 89th-ranked Katie Boulter in the first round of the 2023 WTA Eastbourne Open on Tuesday. The winner of this match will face either Marie Bouzkova or Beatriz Haddad Maia in the next round. Martic comes into this match courtesy of a lucky loser draw after she was beaten by Ana Bogdan in three sets in her second qualifier. The Croatian reached the final in Linz back in February, but since then, she has largely failed to impress. Martic also had a very poor clay swing by her standards, making it past the first round only once in three tournaments. She is now 15-13 for the year and 1-1 on the grass. This surface has never been her favoured one, having won just six of 13 matches in the last three years. Despite holding a significant superiority in ranking over her opponent here, her form suggests that she will likely find it hard in this one. 

Meanwhile, Katie Boulter’s earned her first-ever WTA title in Nottingham earlier this month, which improved her ranking from 126th in the world to 77th after beating Jodie Burrage in straight sets in the final. Unfortunately, she could not follow up in Birmingham last week, losing to Lin Zhu in the first round, which knocked her back to 89th ahead of this tournament, taking her record for the year to 27-10. She comes into this match carrying a wildcard tag, but that could be overlooked as she has done some of her best work on the grass over the years with an impressive career record on this surface of 41-28 and 8-2 for this year. Having had a full week to prepare, Boulter will come into this match much fresher than her last and will be confident in her chances of overcoming an opponent that hasn’t looked good on the grass this year.