Second seeded Petra Martic will be one of the players in action at the Auckland Open 2020 on Tuesday, January 7 as the first round matches continue to be played. And you can find the Petra Martic v Usue Arcanoda & Julia Goerges v Greet Minnen 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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Petra Martic v Usue Arcanoda Predictions & Preview
World number 15 and the second seeded Petra Martic will be in action for her opening round match against the 136th-ranked Usue Arconada. Martic, who was ousted in the first round at the Auckland Open last season, ended the year on a high, finishing on a career-best 15th rank after her Istanbul title triumph.
And it was not just that victory alone. Her overall performance on clay finished with a win-loss of 15-3, which included a quarterfinal at the French Open and another at the Madrid Open.
While her hard court showing left a lot to desire, where she lost 11 of her 24 matches, she did make it to the final at Zhenzhou and quarterfinal at Wuhan, ending the year on a high as a result. Her opponent in this one, Arcanoda did win three lower level tournaments in 2019 but was lucky to qualify for this competition after losing in the final round of the qualifiers.
Martic should start a favourite but Arcanoda’s an unknown quantity with a string of good results last season at the lower circuit. Expect some fight for sure.
Tip: Martic to win in straight sets: 4/6 (Click here to get these odds with Unibet)
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Julia Goerges v Greet Minnen Predictions & Preview
Fourth seeded and defending champion Julia Goerges will take on Belgian qualifier Greet Minnen in their first round match at the Auckland Open on Tuesday. This will be their first meeting.
Ranked 28th in the world, Goerges has a task on her hands as she looks to make it three titles in a row in Auckland. She did struggle through the rest of the 2019 season with early defeats throughout the season, but every now and then Goerges showed the sparkle of her old self.
There was a finals appearance at the Birmingham Open where she went down to Ash Barty and another in Luxembourg where a resurgent Jelena Ostapenko downed her in straight sets. That’s where her season ended but should give her the confidence to pull through these early stages. Minnen might not be an easy opponent though, given how improved she has been over the past two years.
Minnen started 2018 ranked 1149th in the world and finished 2019 at 110th and a couple of deeper performances early in 2020 should push her even higher. She won three matches in the qualifiers to make it to the main draw and could test Goerges here.
Tip: Three sets in the match: 8/5 (Click here to get these odds with Unibet)
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Laura Siegemund v Alison van Uytvanck Predictions & Preview
Ninth seeded Alison van Uytvanck will be up against Laura Siegemund in their opening round match in Auckland in what would be their third meeting. Both previous occasions had van Uytvanck winning the matches, but the caveat here is those were played in 2011-12.
Originally, van Uytvanck wasn’t a seeded player but the withdrawal of Jelena Ostapenko has led to the change. She is now in the same quarter as Serena Williams, and a couple of wins could lead to a match-up against the 23-time Grand Slam champion.
But first things first, and she will need to get past Siegemund who pretty much maintained her ranking throughout the previous season. She made it to one semifinal, at Bucharest, and her best results came on clay. On hard courts though, Siegemund struggled through to a 13-13 win-loss record and van Uytvanck could take advantage of that.
Tip: Alison van Uytvanck to win: 8/15 (Click here to get these odds with Unibet)
Amanda Anisimova v Kateryna Kozlova Predictions & Preview
World number 24 Amanda Anisimova will hope to put the latter half of 2019 behind her as she begins the new season with a first round match against the 91st-ranked Kateryna Kozlova. The 18-year-old American won her maiden WTA title at Bogota and made the semifinal of the French Open – both on clay – but a personal loss just prior to the US Open restricted her to just three tournaments and five matches after Wimbledon.
She will start a favourite against Kozlova who has had major struggles on hard court surfaces since 2016. In these four years, she has a win-loss record of 44-52 on that surface and Anisimova will look to pounce on that obvious weakness.
Tip: Anisimova to win in straight sets: 4/5 (Click here to get these odds with Unibet)