World number 22 Elise Mertens will be up against Frenchwoman 43rd-ranked Kristina Mladenovic in the second round of the 2020 Western & Southern Open. This match will be played on Monday, August 24 with the match timing yet to be decided. Get the live streaming options of this Elise Mertens v Kristina Mladenovic match along with its preview, head to head and tips here.
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Elise Mertens v Kristina Mladenovic Head to Head
There have been four previous matches between Mertens and Mladenovic and surprisingly, Mladenovic leads 3-1. Mertens’ only win came in Hobart where she won 6-1, 6-2, but after that, Mladenovic won the next two – at the St. Petersburg Open in 2017 and then in the 2018 Fed Cup.
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Mertens Faces No Problems
Coming into this tournament on the back of back to back clay court WTA International competitions, Mertens was probably expected to be pushed a tad by Rebecca Peterson in her opener on hard courts. Instead, Mertens took just 59 minutes to dispatch her Swedish opponent, winning 6-0, 6-2 to book her place in the second round.
Some of this could be down to the confidence for Mertens from having made it to the final of the Prague Open where she lost to Simona Halep.
Mertens has had a middling season on hard court surface so far and this win would probably go a long way in helping her feel better on the surface. After all, the world number 22 would have wanted to do better than losing in the quarterfinals at Shenzhen and Hobart and in the second round at Dubai and Doha.
Her best showing of the year came at the Australian Open where she made the fourth round but lost the first of her two matches this season to Halep.
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Mladenovic Takes Toll of Sevastova Form
While Mladenovic has taken more interest in doubles tennis in recent times, a first round match against Anastasija Sevastova these days seems to be the best one can expect in terms of a draw for a player ranked outside the top 40.
Sevastova’s form has been such a wreck, most players in the top 75 would back themselves to beat and Mladenovic looked to have taken full advantage of that. She clinched her first round match 6-3, 6-4.
What Mladenovic will want to do now is to emulate her best ever showing in Cincinnati which was a third round appearance in the 2018 edition. To do that she will need to beat an opponent she has beaten before but at the same time Mladenovic will need to defy her own form issues and a general underwhelming showing on hard court surfaces.
Elise Mertens v Kristina Mladenovic Prediction & Tip
Mertens should win this one against a player who has rarely performed decently in a Premier competition played on hard court surfaces. One might even see a straight-set win for the Dutchwoman.
Tip: Mertens to win in straight sets: 11/10 (bet365)
You can watch & bet on the Cincinnati Open on Monday, August 24 here. Get the latest tennis predictions and tips here.
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