Wildcard entrant Tsvetana Pironkova will face Germany’s Andrea Petkovic in the first round of the 2020 French Open on Monday, September 28. The match will begin at 11 am local time (10 am BST or 5 am Eastern Time). Get the live streaming options of this Tsvetana Pironkova v Andrea Petkovic match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Tsvetana Pironkova v Andrea Petkovic Head to Head
The head-to-head is tied at 1-1, but their two meetings are seven years apart. Pironkova won in 2007 at an ITF tournament in Bratislava before Petkovic evened things out in 2014 at the Tournament of Champions.
Also Read:
Pironkova Balancing Motherhood and Tennis
Tsvetana Pironkova had initially announced her decision to return to professional tennis in March just before the Covid-19 pandemic struck.
Being unranked and playing in her first tournament since Wimbledon 2017, Pironkova was the talk of the bubble as she sensationally stormed through the US Open draw, beating Ludmilla Samsonova, Garbine Muguruza, Donna Vekic and Alize Cornet en route to the quarterfinals where she lost to fellow mother Serena Williams in three sets.
When the Bulgarian left the tour three years ago, there was uncertainty on her return. But as time went by, Pironokova missed competition dearly, and following the WTA’s revised changes on special rankings protections for returning mothers, the likelihood of a comeback became more of a reality.
Pironkova had entered the US Open main draw field courtesy of a protected ranking of world no.123 which she applied just before she gave birth to her son in May 2018.
Her exploits at Flushing Meadows gathered plenty of attention and the French Open organizers did not need second thoughts in handing her a wildcard entry into the main draw where she will make her 13th appearance in Paris.
The Bulgarian now with ranking of world no.157 prefers to play on fast hard-courts where she has won one singles title in her career- the Apia International in Sydney in 2014. She is also a former Wimbledon semifinalist.
Pironkova’s best appearance at the French Open is a quarterfinal which she achieved in 2016.
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Petkovic Returns to Action After Knee Surgery
Andrea Petkovic by her own admission, does not expect to be playing tennis for much longer. Now at 33, and pretty much past her peak years, the German is honing her non-tennis skills on social media and on TV as a host, as she prepares for life after tennis.
Petkovic was a pundit for a German TV station ZDF at the Australian Open when she was nursing a knee injury. And during the pandemic pause, she started an Instagram book club to help everyone in self-isolation.
On court, Petkovic endured a disjointed season in 2019, characterized by a modest 27-28 win-loss record, but which was enough to see her finish with a year-end ranking inside the top-100 for the seventh consecutive season. She reached the semifinals at Linz at the backend of 2019, and also made the third round of Roland Garros and the US Open.
The German has not played a competitive WTA match since retiring in the second round at Luxembourg in 2019, and underwent left knee surgery earlier this year that kept her out for eight weeks.
Petkovic is a winner of six WTA titles and peaked at a career-high ranking of world no.9 in 2011. Her best Grand Slam result is a semifinal at the French Open in 2014 where she lost to Simona Halep.
Pironkova v Petkovic Prediction and Tip
Petkovic is yet to play at tour-level in nearly a year, but that rather seems an outdated stat on the WTA circuit given how Pironkova marked her own return to tennis with excellence despite not picking up a racket for three years.
Petkovic played in a couple of exhibition tournaments during lockdown and even beat Karolina Pliskova on clay at the Tipsport Elite Trophy. The German walks in as a slight underdog, but she certainly has an upper hand on court preference. A bit of a left-field choice this but we think Petkovic can actually surprise Pironkova here.
Tip: Petkovic to win: 11/8 (bet365)
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The French Open 2020 will be played from September 27 to October 11. You can watch & bet on the French Open here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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