Sloane Stephens vs Emma Raducanu Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Australian Open

Prediction published on 17/01/2022, 09:30  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 17/01/2022 at 10:30 in Tennis Predictions

This time last year, Emma Raducanu was ranked 345th in the world. Another 21 places were dropped before her run to the last 16 at Wimbledon and then winning the US Open. Now ranked 18th and seeded 17th at the Australian Open, the British player takes on Sloane Stephens in the first round. Raducanu has only played one match this year and won just one game against Elena Rybakina. She has a new coach and her preparations for the new season were hindered due to Covid-19. This is her first full season on the ATP circuit and it might not be an easy one for her in the early months of the year. 2021 ended with two successive defeats, including a loss to the promising Marta Kostyuk where only three games were won. Raducanu also lost to Xinyu Wang losing the first set 6-1. That's slow starts in her last three matches and that's something that she has to eliminate. Some of her comments don't show a great deal of confidence. Why say that more training can bring injuries and then be photographed playing football?

Sloane Stephens is a former top 10 player and it's already been a big year for her. January 1 saw her get married and now she bids to improve her world ranking of 67. Last year saw the American slip from 39th in the rankings. Her best performance in this tournament was reaching the semi-finals in 2013, when her opponent was still at junior school. Last year saw Stephens lose in the first round to 26th seeded Yulia Putintseva in three sets after taking the first.  The other Grand Slams went a bit better though with a fourth round in Paris (where she lost in the 2018 final) and two third rounds at Wimbledon and in New York. This is a tough match to predict with concerns over Raducanu. A bet on over 21.5 games looks a possible winner, low stakes here though.