World number 17 Iga Swiatek will face Slovenian 20-year-old Kaja Juvan in the second round of the 2021 WTA Gippsland Trophy on Tuesday, February 2, 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 Iga Swiatek v Kaja Juvan match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Iga Swiatek v Kaja Juvan Head to Head
Swiatek and Juvan haven’t played each other before this at any competitive level.
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Swiatek Hoping to Pick off From Where She Left
The 19-year-old Pole was a rank outsider going into the French Open last year but the manner of her title win left a few surprised. Swiatek didn’t just win her first Grand Slam title, she also did that with the kind of style that’s best associated with some of the best.
Swiatek, who jumped up to 17th as a result of that major win, didn’t drop a single set all tournament, losing four games in a set only twice. And the manner in which she outplayed Sofia Kenin, the Australian Open champion, in the final, winning 6-4, 6-1, was surpassed by only one other result – her 6-1, 6-2 victory over Simona Halep.
Since that win, however, Swiatek hasn’t played a single match. While the Pole doesn’t have too many worries featuring on hard court surfaces, she would have to restart afresh, and with all eyes now on her after that win at Roland-Garros, it would bring a different kind of pressure.
How will the teenager cope up with it, that would be an interesting aspect of her overall game coming into this tournament in the lead-up to the Australian Open. She starts out against a player just a few months older than her.
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Juvan Overcomes Slow Start
After having won three qualifiers to make it through to the Australian Open main draw, Juvan would have been confident enough coming into this tournament. Playing against China’s Wang Yafan, who is just eight spots above Juvan on the WTA rankings, she lost the first set but came back strongly to level things off.
In the third, Juvan looked to have taken an almost unassailable 4-1 lead with two breaks of serve but dropped her serve twice to allow Yafan to come back and level it off at 4-4.
Not to be outdone, Juvan then broke her Chinese opponent to love before serving it out to make it to the second round.
Juvan is coming off a season in which her best performance was a second round appearance across four different WTA tournaments, before she was knocked out in the first round at an ITF event in Dubai in December.
Having already played four matches this year, she has some momentum under her belt but the big question is if that would compensate for the gulf in quality between the two players.
Swiatek v Juvan Prediction and Tip
Swiatek is 3/10 to win this and the reason why she doesn’t come at shorter odds than this is the lack of tennis since her French Open victory. Still expecting a Swiatek win but might not be a straightforward one.
Tip: Over 20.5 games in the match: 5/6 (bet365)
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The 2021 WTA Gippsland Trophy in Melbourne 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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