World number three and defending US Open champion Naomi Osaka will take on Britain’s Katie Boulter in the third round of the 2021 WTA Gippsland Trophy on Wednesday, February 3, 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 Naomi Osaka v Katie Boulter match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Naomi Osaka v Katie Boulter Head to Head
This will be the third encounter between Osaka and Boulter with the Japanese player having won their previous encounters. Interestingly, both those matches came in 2018, on grass and in Boulter’s home country – at Birmingham and Wimbledon.
Bit of a symmetry to how the four sets went, with Boulter winning one, two, three and four games respectively across the two matches.
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Osaka Starts off with Clinical Win
Three-time Grand Slam winner Osaka was on court for just an hour and 12 minutes in registering her first win of the season as she cruised past Alize Cornet. She won 6-2, 6-2.
Osaka’s serve was rarely tested in the entire match, with the Japanese number one breaking her opponent twice in each of the two sets to complete the victory.
Having earlier warmed up with an exhibition match against Serena Williams at Adelaide, Osaka was off to a rollicking start when she broke Cornet twice in two games to take a 4-0 lead in the opening set. Cornet managed a hold but the inability to test Osaka’s serve meant her opponent ran away with the set.
Cornet managed to hold her serve to start things off in the second set but Osaka found two break-points in the third game and another one in the fifth game of the second set, converting them all to finish off the encounter.
She now takes on a player ranked 371st in the world and should fancy her chances for another, equally straightforward victory.
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Boulter Bolt for Gauff
For a player ranked outside the top 300, it didn’t come as a big surprise Boulter started off her second round encounter against the teenage sensation Cori Gauff as a rank outsider. The Brit was 4/1 at the start of the encounter and when she dropped successive serves to lose the opening set 6-3, the match looked to be going according to the script.
There was no change to that in the second set either when Gauff got herself a couple of break-points, converting the first, in the ninth game to get herself to serve for the match. A straight-set win looked the most likely result.
Except Gauff hadn’t accounted for Boulter’s fighting capabilities, which saw her break right back and then again to love to clinch the set 7-5 in a shocking turnaround.
Gauff’s game didn’t quite fall away after that, but her inability to break the Boulter serve looked to have dented her confidence. Boulter broke serve in the sixth game and then again when Gauff served to stay in the match to complete a stunning, comeback-from-behind win.
Earlier, Boulter had wasted no time in getting past Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya.
Osaka v Boulter Prediction and Tip
While Boulter has shown what to expect from her in the times to come, Osaka looks like she has enough fuel in her tank to speed past her Brit opponent. That said, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see bit of a fight from Boulter.
Tip: Over 19.5 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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