World number six Karolina Pliskova will up against the 292nd-ranked Anastasia Gasanova in the second round of the 2021 WTA Abu Dhabi with the match to played on Saturday, January 9. The match timing is yet to be released. Get the live streaming options of this Karolina Pliskova v Anastasia Gasanova match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Karolina Pliskova v Anastasia Gasanova Head to Head
There have been no previous meetings between Pliskova and Gasanova.
Also Read:
Pliskova Stretched by Papamichail
The former world number one Pliskova has bolstered her coaching set-up in the lead-up to this season and facing a player 278th in the world, her new team would have expected to steamroll Despina Papamichail in her opening round encounter.
And things looked like they were headed that way too when Pliskova broke Papamichail twice in the first set to grab it 6-2.
The second set turned out to be a lot harder for Pliskova though with her 27-year-old Greek opponent refusing to relent too easily. First Pliskova failed get any breaks of serve till the eighth game of the set, and then she was broken as she tried to serve for the match at 5-3.
It was after 81 minutes and a tie-breaker in the second set that Pliskova finally managed to break her opponent’s resistance and convert it into a victory.
While rustiness would have been a definite reason for the manner of her win, Pliskova has suffered a bit of a tapering off of her form in recent times. She gets a second chance at getting past a player ranked way away from her and will want to make a better fist of it to give herself the necessary confidence for sterner tests ahead.
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Qualifier Gasanova Sends Out Barthel
While Mona Barthel is currently ranked 229th in the world, she was once ranked 23rd and had gone into her opening round encounter against the qualifier Gasanova as a small favourite. As it turned out, the Russian, ranked 292nd in the world at the moment, wasted no time in crushing the Barthel hopes.
Gasanova won 6-2, 6-4 in her opener, her maiden main draw match at the WTA level following on from back to back qualifying victories. The Russian also has six ITF titles to her name, to go with six other runner-up trophies at that level, with eight of those 12 coming on hard court surfaces.
Last year, she featured in the Prague Open, but lost in the opening round, making it her best appearance in a competition at the $125k event.
Pliskova will be her toughest challenge yet but with youth on her side, she would love to get out to the middle and play a fearless brand of tennis.
Pliskova v Gasanova Prediction and Tip
Will lightning strike twice in the form of a player ranked outside 250th in the world testing Pliskova again? We would like to think it will get a lot easier for Pliskova as she overcomes her lack of playing time.
Tip: Under 18.5 games in the match: 4/5 (bet365)
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The 2020 Abu Dhabi Open will be played from January 6 to 13. You can watch & bet on the Abu Dhabi Open here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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