Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, the number four seed, will play Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia in the quarter-final of the WTA Qatar Open on Thursday, February 27. The match is yet to be scheduled and you can find the Belinda Bencic v Svetlana Kuznetsova live streaming options along with its preview, head to head and tips here.
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Belinda Bencic v Svetlana Kuznetsova Head to Head
The pair have played each other four times before, with Bencic leading their head to head series by three matches to one. Bencic won their first encounter in Tokyo in 2014 but Kuznetsova avenged that defeat in Wuhan two years later. However, the Swiss player won their last two matches, at the Madrid Open last year, and in St, Petersburg, a few weeks ago.
Bencic Looking to Recover After Poor Start to 2020
22 year old Bencic began 2020 with a career high ranking of five in the world, but she has since slipped several places to ninth after a very disappointing start to the season.
It began in Auckland where she was beaten in the first round by the American Danielle Collins, and continued through to Melbourne where she was thrashed in the third round by Anett Kontaveit, winning just a single game off the Estonian.
There was no respite either playing for Switzerland in the Fed Cup – she lost to 17 year old Canadian Leylah-Annie Fernandez, ranked 190 in the world.
She was the number one seed in St. Petersburg but, having defeated Kuznetsova, she was beaten by Maria Sakkari of Greece. And, last week in Dubai, she suffered another early exit, beaten by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia.
This then is her first quarter final of the year, although she had her struggles in her opening match with another Russian Veronika Kudermetova, eventually clinching victory via a third set tie-break. However, her defeat of Yulia Putintseva was more comfortable, winning their third round match in straight sets on Wednesday.
Kuznetsova Benefitting from Anisimova’s Retirement
The world number 49 and former multiple Grand Slam winner Kuznetsova is in her first quarter final of 2020, and she did not even have to work for it, after her third round opponent, Amanda Anisimova, was forced to retire from their third round match on Wednesday without a ball being struck.
Like Bencic she has not started the year well, losing in the first round in Hobart, beaten by the Pole Magda Linette, and in the second round of the Australian Open at the hands of the Italian Camila Giorgi.
In St. Petersburg, she did beat Jennifer Brady, who went on to reach the semi-final in Dubai, but then lost to Bencic in straight sets.
Having chosen to skip Dubai, she opened her campaign in Doha with two straight sets wins, over Cagla Buyukakcay of Turkey, and then Iga Swiatek of Poland. That earned her the tie with Anisimova, and now the match with Bencic.
Belinda Bencic v Svetlana Kuznetsova Predictions & Tips
Neither woman has shown any sort of form in 2020, and this is the first quarter final of the year for both. Kuznetsova has the benefit of an extra day’s rest, not having had to play because of Anisimova’s retirement. Despite this, when they met in St. Petersburg a few weeks ago, Bencic won in straight sets, and will be favourite to do so again.
Tip: Bencic to win in straight sets: 11/8 (Click here to get these odds with Unibet)
You can watch & bet on Bencic v Kuznetsova on Thursday, February 27 here. . Get the latest tennis predictions and tips here.
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