World number 15 and top seeded Petra Martic will be up against surprise opponent and qualifier Liudmila Samsonova in their second round match at the 2020 Palermo Open with the match to be played on Thursday, August 6. This match will begin at around 5.30 pm local time (4.30 pm BST). You can find the live streaming options of this Jasmine Paolini v Aliaksandra Sasnovich match along with its preview, head to head and tips here.
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Petra Martic v Liudmila Samsonova Head to Head
Martic and Samsonova have never played each other before this in any competitive tennis.
Martic Breezes into Round Two
After an ordinary start to the season, Martic would have been waiting for the clay court tournaments to kick-start quicker than they finally did. The pandemic proved to be a problem for the entire tour but more so for clay court specialist and Martic is definitely one of them.
The 2019 French Open quarterfinalist had entered the Palermo Open on the back of a 5-5 win-loss record on hard-court surfaces, and having not played a single match during the break either, we expected her to face some resistance. It turned out to be a lot easier than that!
Martic, whose first clay court title came last year in Istanbul, needed just over an hour to notch up a straight-set, and easy win over Alison van Uytvanck. She blanked her opponent in the first set and while van Uytvanck fought a little in the second, Martic came through 6-0, 6-3 to set up this meeting.
The top seed admitted feeling nervous before the match but once on court, she said, “I kind of let go and just played.” With the nerves behind her now, she could prove to be a tougher opponent to contend with than ever before.
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Samsonova on an Eight-Match Winning Streak
Yes, that’s correct! Four of those matches were a part of the Italian National Tour competition which she went on to win and the next three came in the qualifiers here in Palermo.
And Samsonova followed it up with a straight-set drubbing of veteran player Kirsten Flipkens in the first round here, clinching the second round berth with a 6-4, 6-2 win. The Russian, who is just three short of her career-best ranking of 114th, will be looking to push on to give Martic a fight here in the lead-up to the rest of the curtailed season.
Because while defeating the much-fancied Martic would be a tough ask, a sterling showing here could push her own confidence up to never-before levels. Samsonova’s best season on any surface did come on clay in 2018 when she won 49 of her 65 matches on that surface, albeit at a lower tier.
Petra Martic v Liudmila Samsonova Prediction & Tip
Martic is a heavy favourite to win this, with bet365 offering 4/11 for her to proceed to the quarterfinal. A straight-set win is at 5/6 but more importantly we believe this is a good games handicap bet to look at.
Tip: Games Handicap Petra Martic -5.5: 10/11 (bet365)
You can watch & bet on the WTA Palermo on Thursday, August 6 here. Get the latest tennis predictions and tips here.
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