Belinda Bencic, the number six seed, will face a tricky test in the second round of the 2020 Australian Open when she meets Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko on Thursday, January 23. The match will be played at 11 am local time (12 midnight BST). You can find the Belinda Bencic v Jelena Ostapenko live streaming options along with its preview, head to head and tips here.
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Belinda Bencic v Jelena Ostapenko Head to Head
Bencic and Ostapenko have met once before, with the Latvian winning in three sets in their second round match in Indian Wells in 2018.
Bencic Could Be A Dark Horse This Fortnight
Belinda Bencic performed well beyond her expectations in 2019. She arrived in Melbourne on the back off a career-best season in which she won two WTA titles and reached the semifinal of a Grand Slam for the first time at the US Open last September. The 22-year-old also made the final eight at the season-ending WTA finals at the end of the year.
The wily Swiss fell to Petra Kvitova, the eventual finalist, in the third round of the Australian Open last year. She was ranked at No.55 at this juncture 12 months ago, but she has re-entered the top-10 for the second time in her career.
Bencic suffered a shock defeat to Anna Blinkova in her first lead-up tournament in Shenzhen, but she put up a strong showing the week after in Adelaide where she beat Daria Kasatkina and the powerful Julia Goerges before losing to Danielle Collins of the United States in the quarterfinals.
There will be an extra incentive to cheer Bencic’s double-faults this week. She has pledged to donate $200 for every double-fault in her bushfire aid, and in her win over Anna Schmiedlova in the first round, she struck four times.
Ostapenko Dealing With Tough Start to 2020
Jelena Ostapenko might have had a reason to be happy for winning her first round match against Ludmilla Samsonova in straight sets, but she is still coming to terms with the death of her father who sadly passed away earlier this year.
The former World No.5 withdrew from the ASB Classic in Auckland in the opening week citing personal reasons, but she later posted on her social media pages of the personal tragedy.
The Latvian took the decision to play the Australian Open and she posted a high-quality win against an in-form qualifier in the shape of Samsonova. She fired 11 aces and won 78% of first serve points.
Ostapenko is on her second coming after appointing Marion Bartoli as her new coach in the second half of the 2019 season. Under the tutelage of the former Wimbledon champion, she returned to the winner’s circle during the closing stages of last season. She won the Luxembourg Open emphatically – her first title in two years and cracked the top-50 yet again.
Belinda Bencic v Jelena Ostapenko Predictions & Tips
Ostapenko is on the rise once more after a strong second half of the 2019 season in which she made back-to-back finals. Unfortunately for her, she has had to deal with a personal tragedy to start 2020. She showed no emotional breakdown in her first match, but I think she might come unstuck here against a confident Bencic.
Tip: Bencic to win in three sets: 16/5 (Click here to get these odds with Unibet)
You can watch & bet on Bencic v Ostapenko on Thursday, January 23 here. . Get the latest tennis predictions and tips here.
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