World number 39 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova will face up to the Japanese challenge of the 84th-ranked Misaki Doi in the opening round of the 2021 WTA Yarra Valley Classic on Sunday, January 31, with the match likely to begin at around 2:30 pm local time (8:30 am Eastern Time). Get the live streaming options of this Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova v Misaki Doi match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova v Misaki Doi Head to Head
There have been two previous outings between these two players, and both have won one apiece. It was Doi who went 1-0 up with a three-set victory in Wuhan in 2016 before Pavlyuchenkova levelled things off in 2019 when she defeated the local player at the Osaka Open quarterfinals.
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Pavlyuchenkova Coming off Abu Dhabi Defeat
Pavlyuchenkova was one of those who qualified to play for the first tournament of the season in Abu Dhabi on the virtue of her ranking alone but drawn to face Ons Jabeur first up, she fell to a straight-set defeat. While Pavlyuchenkova fought hard in the opening set of that encounter, she lost 7-6, 6-3.
In that encounter, she was a break down in the fifth game of the first set, broke back immediately and showed remarkable grit in staving off multiple break-points after that throughout to push it into a tie-breaker.
The fight fizzled away in the second set as the in-form Jabeur took control and broke her twice to wrap up the encounter.
It is interesting to note all of Pavlyuchenkova’s tournaments after the pandemic break came on clay despite nine of her 12 career titles having come on hard court surfaces. Before tennis took a break for the pandemic, Pavlyuchenkova had earlier made it as far as the quarterfinals at the Australian Open – the third time she has done that at that Grand Slam and sixth overall.
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Main Draw Struggles Making it Tough for Doi
While 2020 was by no means an easy year for any player, Doi’s struggles at the highest level were rather pronounced even before the pandemic-induced break.
In the four tournaments she played on the WTA circuit before tennis was suspended because of coronavirus, Doi failed to qualify at one and didn’t reach the second round in all the other three. At the Indian Wells $125k competition she then looked to show some form by reaching the final but coming back to the sport in August, those early struggles returned to haunt her.
Failure to qualify for the Cincinnati Open, an opening round loss at the US Open and something similar at both Rome and Paris meant her first round win at the Istanbul against Ellen Perez, a player who has never been inside the top 150, remained her only victory in the main draw of WTA tournaments last season.
The former world number 30 Doi will have to do a lot better to remain in the top 100 this season.
Pavlyuchenkova v Doi Prediction and Tip
Not surprisingly, Pavlyuchenkova is 1/4 to win this and 8/11 to do that in two sets. The only factor that could even things out a bit is the early season rustiness for both, which could see Doi come up with some fight. Would that be enough to push the match into a third? Doubtful.
Tip: Pavlyuchenkova to win in straight sets: 8/11 (bet365)
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The 2021 WTA Yarra Valley Classic will be played from January 31. You can watch & bet on the these matches here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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