Two players ranked in their 30s, Cori Gauff and Ekaterina Alexandrova will go head to head in the first round of the 2021 WTA Dubai on Sunday, March 7. The match is yet to be scheduled. Get the live streaming options of this Cori Gauff v Ekaterina Alexandrova match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Cori Gauff v Ekaterina Alexandrova Head to Head
This will be the first meeting between the 33rd-ranked Alexandrova and 38th-ranked Gauff.
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- All the Latest WTA Dubai Predictions Here
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Gauff’s Adelaide Semifinal Takes Her to Career-Best
Having reached the semifinal of the Adelaide International late last month was enough for Gauff to steer her ranking to a career-best of 38th in the world. What made that showing doubly special was she had entered that tournament as a qualifier, needing to win against Francesca Jones and Kaja Juvan to make it to the main draw.
This was followed by wins over Jasmine Paolini, Petra Martic and Shelby Rogers which drove her to the last-four stage where she fell to Belinda Bencic. It wasn’t without a fight though with her Swiss opponent needing three sets and two tie-breakers to come through and clinch the encounter.
Earlier in the season, Gauff had three starts to tournaments but lost in the second round of each of them. This included losses to Maria Sakkari in Abu Dhabi, Katie Boulter at the Gippsland Trophy and then a straight-set loss to Elina Svitolina at the Australian Open.
Can she push on with her remarkable run at all of 16 years of age and make it through to the second round here?
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Lyon Early Exit for Alexandrova
Having made a sturdy start to the season, Alexandrova was shocked in the first round of the WTA Lyon last week, going down to Clara Tauson in straight sets. That Tauson, a qualifier, went on to make it to the final, was the underlying cause – here is a player who despite being ranked 139th in the world, was in such supreme form she made it all the way through to the title-decider.
It wouldn’t too far-fetched to suggest it was bit of a one-off off day for Alexandrova who had earlier in the season shown enough spark.
It started with a third round appearance at the Abu Dhabi Open, where she lost to Elina Svitolina. A semifinal at the Gippsland Trophy could have been a lot better but for an upset loss at the hands of Kaia Kanepi before Alexandrova made it to the third round at the Australian Open as well only to lose to the world number one Ash Barty.
Alexandrova now begins this tournament with a very tricky opponent in front of her but her greater experience and decent form should help.
Gauff v Alexandrova Prediction and Tip
While Gauff is a slight favourite with odds of 4/5 to win this, as compared to 1/1 for an Alexandrova victory, we reckon the Russian has the game to get past her opponent. Backing Alexandrova to shade this contest.
Tip: Alexandrova to win: 1/1 (bet365)
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The 2021 WTA Dubai Open will be played from March 8 to 14. You can watch & bet on these matches here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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