World number 15 Garbine Muguruza will face Russian lucky loser Margarita Gasparyan in the first round of the 2021 Australian Open on Monday, February 8, with the match likely to begin at around 10 am local time (11 pm BST or 6 pm Eastern Time previous day). Get the live streaming options of this Garbine Muguruza v Margarita Gasparyan match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Garbine Muguruza v Margarita Gasparyan Head to Head
There has been one previous encounter between Muguruza and Gasparyan before this. It came at the 2019 Monterrey Open and Muguruza needed three sets to get past her and make it to the quarterfinal.
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Muguruza Hoping to Go One Better
She was the runner-up last Australian Open and by the looks of how she has started off this year, Muguruza would rank as one of the favourites to do one better.
The Spaniard, two-time Grand Slam winner, begun with back to back straight-set victories at the Abu Dhabi Open but was surprised by Maria Sakkari in the third round, going down in two. That, however, only seemed to have spurred her on further coming into the Melbourne tune-up competition.
Because at the time of writing, Muguruza had stormed into the final of the WTA Yarra Valley Classic and it wasn’t just about winning those four matches to get there alone but the manner of those wins.
All victories were in straight sets and in none of those matches did Muguruza lose more than two games in a set. Sofia Kenin, the previous Australian Open winner, was sent packing 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinal while Marketa Vondrousova won just one game in the semifinal.
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Gasparyan Lucky to Make it to Australian Open
The Russian won her second WTA title in Tashkent in 2018 but since then her form has spectacularly fallen away. In 2019, Gasparyan won 19 to 22 losses and it went worse in 2020, when she picked up just five victories to her 12 defeats.
Six of those 12 defeats came in the qualifiers of events, and that rut seems to have continued this season as well.
Playing in her first competition at the Australian Open qualifiers, Gasparyan was stretched in both her first two victories despite going into those encounters as bookmakers’ favourite. And then she lost in the third round to Tsvetana Pironkova, while still making it to the main draw as a lucky loser.
At the Gippsland Trophy in Melbourne, Gasparyan pushed Polona Hercog in her first round match, winning the first set too but did not finish off too well.
And now drawn to play probably one of the pre-tournament favourites, she would believe she needs to turn her own luck around.
Muguruza v Gasparyan Prediction and Tip
Muguruza starts off 1/25 to win this and 1/6 to do that in straight sets. Backing her to not drop more than four games in the encounter.
Tip: Less than 16.5 games: 6/4 (bet365)
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The 2021 Australian Open will be played from February 8 to 21. You can watch & bet on the these matches here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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