The world number 28 Yulia Putintseva faces the 40th-ranked Sloane Stephens in the first round of the 2021 Australian Open on Tuesday, February 9, 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 Yulia Putintseva v Sloane Stephens match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Yulia Putintseva v Sloane Stephens Head to Head
There have been four previous matches between these two players resulting in both players winning two apiece.
Stephens won their first ever encounter at the Toronto Open in 2017, before Putintseva came back to clinch their next two matches – at Nurnberg and Sydney over the next next seasons.
Their most recent outing came at the 2019 Cincinnati Open and Stephens edged out her opponent there in three sets.
Also Read:
Putintseva Struggles in Melbourne Quarantine
The lead up to the start of her first round at the Australian Open hasn’t been the best for Putintseva. Since landing in Melbourne, things haven’t quite gone right for the Kazakh world number 28 starting from getting hard-quarantined to finding rats in her hotel room to a loss in the second round of her match at the Grampians Trophy.
After a straight-set win over Georgina Garcia-Perez in the first round in Melbourne, Putintseva had her chances in the final set, match tie-breaker against Victoria Azarenka. Unfortunately for Putintseva, she failed to convert those and fell 11-9 in the final set.
Things looked to have begun well in 2021 for Putintseva, who wasted not a lot of breath against Martina Trevisan and Barbora Krejcikova at the Abu Dhabi Open. And then facing Sofia Kenin in the third, she almost surprised the defending Australian Open Sofia Kenin by grabbing the first set and push the second into a tie-breaker but eventually lost it in three.
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Stephens Slide Continues in 2020
2020 wasn’t the best of years for most sports-persons but more so for someone like Stephens who had struggled to get a grip at even in the preceding seasons at the highest level despite being a former Grand Slam champion.
Barring a third round appearance at the US Open where she went down fighting to Serena Williams, Stephens won just two matches all season. Other than that, there were eight first round exits as she desperately vied for the attention of deserting form.
Unfortunately for Stephens, the start to 2021 hasn’t been the best either. Opting not to play any tournaments before landing in Melbourne, she lost in the only match she featured at the Grampians Trophy, losing to Leylah Fernandez 6-3, 6-1.
A turnaround will be a gradual one but she needs to start troubling the top players, and in this case it’s the 26th seeded Putintseva who needs to be pushed.
Putintseva v Stephens Prediction and Tip
Putintseva is 2/7 to clinch this and unless she stumbles badly here, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem for her despite playing the former world number 3.
Tip: Putintseva to win: 2/7 (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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