No. 13 seed Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic will take on unseeded Russian Daria Kasatkina in the final of the WTA Phillip Island Open on Friday, February 19, with the match likely to begin at around 11 am local time (12 noon BST or 7 pm Eastern Time previous day). Get the live streaming options of this Marie Bouzkova v Daria Kasatkina match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Marie Bouzkova v Daria Kasatkina Head to Head
Kasatkina won their only matchup in the qualifying round of the Ostrava Open last year, winning the contest 6-4, 5-7, 7-5.
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Bouzkova Edges Past Andreescu
World No. 50 Marie Bouzkova saved two match points to end World No. 9 Bianca Andreescu’s hopes of winning a fourth career title as the Czech edged out the Canadian in a tense three-hour-and-14-minute semifinal on Thursday.
In a match of swinging fortunes, the second seed Canadian took the first set after an hour and 23 minutes. But Bouzkova bounced back with a superlative second set display before having to dig deep in the third to finally secure her second WTA final spot.
A finalist at the Monterrey Open last year, Bouzkova converted six of 13 break points and saved six of 9 to get her first win over the Canadian in three attempts, taking the contest 6-7 (9-11), 6-2, 7-5.
The 22-year-old right-hander, who saved three set points in the first set before failing to defend one, had to fend off two match points in the 10th game of the deciding set before finally holding nerve and the serve to draw level at 5-5.
It’s been a sapping couple of days for the Czech, who needed two hours and 41 minutes to defeat Switzerland’s Jil Tiechmann 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in Wednesday’s quarterfinal.
Beginning her Phillip Island Trophy campaign with a win over Montenegro’s Danka Kovinic, who withdrew midway from the first round contest, Bouzkovic got into a good rhythm as the tournament progressed, scoring straight-set wins over China’s Zhu Lin and Australia’s Gabriella Da Silva Fick to reach the last eight.
A 12-time winner on the ITF Circuit, Bouzkova is now 7-2 this year. The Czech player, who achieved a career-high ranking of 46 last year, had broken into the top 100 in 2019, thanks to her run to the semifinal in Toronto.
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Gritty Kasatkina Sees Off Collins
Former World No. 10 Daria Kasatkina continued her stellar run in the tournament as she handed No. 8 seed Danielle Collins of America her fifth career semifinal defeat to advance to the title clash.
The World No. 75, who hasn’t played in a final since winning her second career title in Moscow in 2018, needed two hours and 20 minutes to prevent the American from reaching her maiden final.
Serving 10 aces and converting 9 of 19 break point opportunities while saving four of nine, Kasatkina won the gripping contest 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 6-1.
It’s been a pretty good week for the 23-year-old Russian, who had dropped just one set in the tournament until losing another in the semifinal on Thursday.
Beginning the tournament with a straight sets win over Britain’s Katie Boulter, Kasatkina defeated compatriots Varvara Gracheva and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the next two rounds, before scoring a comprehensive win against Petra Martic in the last eight.
Prior to the semifinal, Pavlyuchenkova was the only opponent to trouble her in the tournament, as the seventh seed took the first set before being blown away in the next two.
Kasatkina, who lost in the second round of the Australian Open to Aryna Sabalenka, began her season in Abu Dhabi where she reached the Round of 16. She also reached the third round of the Gippsland Trophy in the lead-up to the first major of the year.
The winner of Charleston Open in 2017, Kasatkina delivered her best results in 2018, winning the Kremlin Cup title, and reaching the final at Indian Wells and Dubai. She also played in the semifinals in St. Petersburg and featured in five other quarterfinals.
Bouzkova v Kasatkina Prediction and Tip
Bouzkova has spent close to six hours on court over the last couple of days and would be mentally and physically drained.
It will be interesting to see if she can recover well in time for the final. On the other hand, Kasatkina, although tested by Collins on Thursday, has shown better form over the course of the week, dispatching opponents with relative ease.
The Russian also knows how to win finals, having won twice before, and should be able to use that experience to beat the 13th seed, who is still searching for her first title, having failed to win in her first attempt in Monterrey last year, where she finished runner-up to Elina Svitolina.
Tip: Kasatkina to win: 4/7 (bet365)
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The 2021 WTA Phillip Island Open will be played from February 14 to 19. You can watch & bet on the these matches here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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