World number two and top seeded Simona Halep will be up against the third seed Elise Mertens in the final of the Prague Open 2020 final on Sunday, August 16. The match will begin at around 4 pm local time (3 pm BST). Get the live streaming options of this Simona Halep v Irina-Camelia Begu match along with its preview, head to head and tips here.
Looking to watch WTA tennis live streaming online?
- For tennis fans in the UK, Europe, Australia & elsewhere go to bet365 > Tennis > Live Streaming here* to watch & bet on the ATP & WTA tennis live.
- Get the latest tennis predictions here
[the_ad id=”14063″]
*Geo-restrictions apply & pre-funded account needed
Simona Halep v Elise Mertens Head to Head
This will be the fifth meeting between Halep and Mertens with the Romanian having won three of their previous four. On clay, it’s 2-0 in favour of Halep, both of the wins coming in 2018 at the Madrid Open and French Open. They had also met as recently as at the Australian Open earlier this year with Halep coming through 6-4, 6-4 in that quarterfinal.
Also Read:
Halep Makes it Second Straight-Set Win in a Row
In her first two rounds here in Prague, Halep did not look like her old self and dropped a set apiece. However, the fighting spirit remained undimmed and by the time she took to court for her quarterfinal against Magdalena Frech, the confidence was back and rustiness relegated to the back-seat.
Halep demolished the unheralded Frech 6-2, 6-0 to move into the semifinal where she had bit of an advantage against Irina Begu. Begu had to play a couple of sets to complete her quarterfinal match from the previous day which meant she did not have much of a break between that encounter and this semifinal against Halep.
Not that it would have made too much of a difference given Halep had already led Begu 6-0 on head to head. She made it her seventh win in a row against Begu, but not before Halep was given bit of a fight by her opponent.
Begu had a chance to serve out the first set at 5-4 and 6-5 but Halep, who later admitted she didn’t play her best, managed to break back both times and took it to the tie-breaker.
There was no looking back for Halep after that as she raced to a 3-1 lead against Begu and while there was bit of a fight from there on too, it was a case of too little, too late.
[the_ad id=”14063″]
Mertens Staves off In-Form Pliskova
For a chunk of this week, Kristyna Pliskova has been playing like a player possessed. It’s been a kind of phase that hasn’t been seen in recent times by her, so when she took to court for her semifinal against Mertens, it was expected to be an exciting encounter.
It turned out to be one despite being a straight-set win for Mertens, who needed nearly two hours to get past her Czech opponent.
Mertens saved seven of the eight break-points she faced to win 7-5, 7-6, which also included a comeback from a 3-0 deficit in the second tie-breaker. The Dutchwoman had a chance to serve out the first set at 5-4 but messed up to lose her only serve but did not miss out on that chance at 6-5.
It’s been an interesting couple of matches for Mertens after she was stretched to three sets by Eugenie Bouchard in the quarterfinals. Bouchard is another player, who is seeing a resurgence of form after having gone through an underwhelming phase of tennis last few years.
Simona Halep v Elise Mertens Prediction & Tip
Halep is an overwhelming favourite in this one with odds of 2/5 for her win while Mertens starts off at 2/1. We think this could be a more fighting encounter than what those odds suggest, and while Halep should still win, there’s a lot that could go right for Mertens.
Tip: Over 20.5 games in the match: 4/5 (bet365)
You can watch & bet on the WTA Prague on Sunday, August 16 here. Get the latest tennis predictions and tips here.
Be the first to comment