World number 36 Lin Zhu will be up against the 28th-ranked Anhelina Kalinina in the first round of the 2023 WTA Cincinnati Open on Sunday, August 13. Get the predictions and odds of this Lin Zhu v Anhelina Kalinina match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Lin Zhu v Anhelina Kalinina Head to Head
They have never played each other before this on the WTA circuit while having faced each other on the ITF circuit in 2015. Kalinina had won that match on clay.
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Zhu on a Three-Match Losing Streak
Zhu hit a career-best ranking of 33rd in the world recently and would have probably even broken into the top 30 had it not been for her sudden loss of form.
That, unfortunately, has been the story of her season so far.
Having made the semifinal in Monterrey earlier this year, she followed that up with a five-match losing streak. The Hua Hin Open champion then did the same in Birmingham on grass but then went on to win just one of the next six matches she played.
This included three successive defeats on the hardcourt surfaces of Warsaw, Prague and Montreal where she lost to the likes of Laura Siegemund and Yanina Wickmayer. Zhu would have surely expected to do better than that.
She now faces a rather stiff challenge of the world number 28 first up here and unless she can turn things around quickly, Zhu could be facing another defeat.
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Kalinina in a Horrid Run as Well
If Zhu’s form hasn’t been up to the scratch recently, Kalinina’s had it worse.
The Ukrainian player ran away to a finals berth at the Italian Open earlier this year where she fell to Elena Rybakina. While she would have expected to be a turn of something excellent, it has turned into a run of a very poor form.
Kalinina has won just three of the next 11 matches she has featured in since that final and none of them in a row. In fact, she enters the Cincinnati Open on the back of three successive defeats, having lost in the second round at Wimbledon, and then having fallen to Jennifer Brady and Sloane Stephens in Washington and Montreal.
Featuring in just her second edition of this tournament, Kalinina will be looking for her first career win in this tournament.
Zhu v Kalinina Prediction and Tip
This is a battle between two out of form players but Lin Zhu will hold a slight edge here given her performances on hardcourt surfaces this season.
Tips:
- Low Risk Tip: Zhu to win: 1/2
- Moderate Risk Tip: Over 21.5 games in the match: 5/6
The 2023 WTA Cincinnati Open will be played from August 13 to 20. You can get all the tennis betting news with our tennis betting blog here. Also get rest of the tennis match previews here.
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