Who will win the second round matches at the 2019 WTA Kremlin Cup that are scheduled for Thursday, October 17? Get Kiki Bertens v Kaia Kanepi & Elina Svitolina v Veronika Kudermetova preview, predictions, tips, and other statistics.
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Kiki Bertens v Kaia Kanepi Predictions & Preview
This will be the second match between Kiki Bertens and Kaia Kanepi as the pair face off in the second round of the Kremlin Cup. And in their first match which was played all the way back in 2012, Kanepi had registered a straight-set win over Bertens.
Things have dramatically changed over the seasons as Bertens has crept up to the number eighth rank in the world – having also touched her career-best of fourth. Kanepi, on the other hand, has fallen down the ladder and is currently outside the top 100.
Down with fitness issues in 2017, Kanepi’s ranking had gone down to 630th in the world but since then she has shown improvement. However, that 90-100-rank bracket looks to be a ceiling that she would so like to break. And with three qualifying wins to make it to the main draw here and then a straight-set rout of Timea Babos, Kanepi has a good chance to do that.
Bertens, however, has form by her side and even more so on indoor courts. She was a winner at the St.Petersburg Open earlier this year and made it to the quarter-finals at Linz too. Expecting her to scythe through her opponent here easily.
Tip: Bertens to win in straight sets 5/4 with Unibet
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Elina Svitolina v Veronika Kudermetova Predictions & Preview
In what will be their first ever match, Elina Svitolina will be up against Veronika Kedermetova for a place in the quarterfinals. Ranked fourth in the world, Svitolina had a first round bye and will now have the 42nd-ranked and in-form Kedermetova against her. This could be a ripping contest.
Svitolina, who has already qualified for the WTA Finals, doesn’t have a lot to play for in the fag-end of the season. A few extra days of break sometimes helps going into a major event like the WTA Finals while Kedermetova is targetting an improvement over her already best-ever ranking.
If Svitolina can avoid complacency should be able to get through but Kedermetova will be waiting for her opponent’s guard to drop. With a 6-3, 6-3 win over Ons Jabeur in the first round, the Russian, egged on by her home supporters will also have a chance in this one. We are going in with a Set Handicap for this one.
Tip: Set Handicap Kudermetova +1.5 4/5 with Unibet
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Anastasija Sevastova v Kristina Mladenovic Predictions & Preview
This will be their third meeting with Anastasija Sevastova having both previous times against Kristina Mladenovic. While their first match came in 2010, their latest meeting was last year and Sevastova managed to drop just three games en route that win in the first round. Incidentally, even in their first match, Sevastova had lost just three.
Sevastova, a semifinalist in this tournament last year, won her opener against Aliaksandra Sasnovich in straight sets. In turn it broke a string of three successive defeats that had threatened to derail an otherwise neat season for the 24th-ranked Latvian.
Mladenovic will be hoping for a turnaround in fortunes at this tournament, having lost in the second round in each of the previous occasions. Her form on hard court and indoor courts hasn’t been much to write about though, a 12-16 win-loss on the former and 3-2 on the latter. Even in the first round she registered a scrappy win over Yulia Putintseva and Sevastova should not have too many difficulties in this one by the looks of it.
Tip: Sevastova to win in straight sets 37/20 with Unibet
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Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova v Varvara Gracheva Predictions & Preview
Russians Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Varvara Gracheva will be up against each other in this second round match after registering contrasting wins in their openers.
Pavlyuchenkova had the misfortune of playing Maria Sakkari that early but she converted that into some brilliance on court and a three-set win. On the other hand, little known 121st-ranked Gracheva needed to win three matches to make it to the main draw of this tournament and ended up with 6-3, 6-2 victory over Ajla Tomljanovic.
Incidentally, before this tournament, Gracheva had won just one main draw match on the WTA circuit this year, but her overall record in 2019 has been fantastic. She has won five ITF competitions already and the confidence showed in her first round victory.
Pavlyuchenkova has had a final to show for her effort recently. She got to the title-decider at WTA Osaka where she lost to Naomi Osaka but since then she had lost three of her five matches before this tournament. Can Gracheva pull off something special here?
Tip: Over 20.5 games in the match 17/20 with Unibet
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