Caroline Garcia and Rebecca Peterson will be two of the seeded players in action on Monday, January 6 at the 2020 Auckland Open. And you can find the Caroline Garcia v Taylor Townsend & Rebecca Peterson v Tamara Zidansek tips, previews and live streams below.
- Get the best odds for the Auckland Open 2020 with bet365 here.
- Also watch the Auckland Open 2020 live streaming here
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Caroline Garcia v Taylor Townsend Predictions & Preview
The eighth seeded and 46th-ranked Caroline Garcia kick-starts her 2020 campaign with a first round match at the Auckland Open against USA’s Taylor Townsend. Garcia, once ranked fourth in the world, had a very underwhelming 2019 season as she registered 27 wins to her 27 losses despite a title win at Nottingham on grass.
It was the first time in her career since 2013 her win-loss ratio fell to that low a figure. Almost unsurprisingly, her season had ended with a whimper – Garcia lost five out of her last six matches including getting double-bagelled by Ash Barty in Fed Cup and a first round loss at the Limoges Open.
Now Garcia takes on an opponent, Townsend who featured at the lower circuit for a lot of the previous year. However, as season finishes go, Townsend helped her cause no end by going through the qualifiers at the US Open and defeating Simona Halep on her way to the fourth round. Even in that round of 16 encounter, Townsend managed to take the first set off the eventual winner, Bianca Andreescu before going down in three.
Townsend could give Garcia a scare and more here.
Tip: Three sets in the match: 7/5 (Click here to get these odds with Unibet)
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Rebecca Peterson v Tamara Zidansek Predictions & Preview
This will be the third match between Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson and Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia. On both previous occasions Zidansek had had no difficulties beating Peterson and the Swede will have something to do about that for sure.
Peterson achieved a career-best ranking of 44th in the world and ended the previous season on 45th. This was following a year that saw her win her maiden WTA title followed by Peterson doubling her tally – her victories coming at Nanchang and Tianjin.
With both those victories coming on hard courts, and the Tianjin one being the last of the tournaments she played in 2019, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise she starts off quite confidently here.
Interestingly, Zidansek also won her second WTA title last year, albeit a $125k competition at Bol. She was the defending champion and made it two in two. However, as far as performances on hard court surfaces go, she fell away drastically and lost 13 of the 19 matches she played on it. Peterson should not have too many worries getting past Zidansek in this one then.
Tip: Peterson to win in straight sets: 11/10 (Click here to get these odds with Unibet)
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Eugenie Bouchard v Kirsten Flipkens Predictions & Preview
She was a Wimbledon finalist in what now seems like another era but Eugenie Bouchard will now kick-start her 2020 season ranked 215th in the world and hoping to keep fitness issues at bay. And fans would be hoping she can play some focussed tennis too.
The advantage Bouchard has starting off her campaign in Auckland 2020 is her first round opponent is an unseeded player, Kirsten Flipkens, ranked a reasonably low 71st in the world and with her own struggles in recent times. The bad news? In their only previous meeting that came on the hard courts of Indian Wells, Flipkens defeated Bouchard in three sets.
Bouchard’s 8-20 win-loss record in 2019 compares horribly to her opponent’s 31-27 in that same period but if the Canadian can play somewhere close to her potential, we might see a close contest yet again. Could go to a third.
Tip: Three sets in the match: 8/5 (Click here to get these odds with Unibet)
Cori Gauff v Viktoria Kuzmova Predictions & Preview
This will be the first meeting between the 68th-ranked 15-year-old Cori Gauff and Kuzmova, ranked 56th on the WTA Rankings. And it could prove to be a humdinger.
In just her second professional season, and Gauff had played just 13 matches in her first in 2018, the American finished with a win-loss record of 29-15. More vitally were her breakthrough performances at Wimbledon and at the Linz Open.
She made it to Wimbledon with straight-set wins before beating Venus Williams on her way through to the fourth round of the tournament. Later she was a lucky loser in the main draw at Linz and went on to win the title. And speaking of winning titles at the highest level, that’s something Kuzmova has never done, so that’s a tick for Gauff already.
Kuzmova also had a below-par season in 2019, winning 29 to losing 27 of her matches. As a result, Gauff starts off as a favourite here and will be our pick to win this one too.
Tip: Cori Gauff to win: 8/11 (Click here to get these odds with Unibet)