World number 17 Elise Mertens will face the Latvian challenge of Anastasija Sevastova in the second round of the 2021 WTA Adelaide International on Wednesday, February 24, 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 Elise Mertens v Anastasija Sevastova match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Elise Mertens v Anastasija Sevastova Head to Head
There have been two previous encounters between these two players and both have gone in favour of Sevastova. This was before Mertens took off on the tour, with the first match played at the 2017 Mallorca Open and the second at the 2019 French Open. Both, incidentally, ended up as three-setters.
Also Read:
- All the Latest WTA Adelaide International Predictions Here
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Mertens 7-1 This Season
Solid as ever, Mertens looked like she was on her way to an eighth successive win of the season and into the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.
She was 1/3 to overcome Karolina Muchova in her fourth round match in Melbourne but a first set tie-breaker loss and another close one in the second set meant her dreams of trying to emulate her 2018 Australian Open performance – she was a semifinalist there – came unexpectedly cropper.
Mertens had entered the tournament as one of the players to watch out for, having benefitted from a Naomi Osaka withdrawal to win the Gippsland Trophy in the lead-up to the year’s first Grand Slam. With a third round win over Belinda Bencic at the Australian Open, and 6-2, 6-1 no less, Mertens would have been particularly disheartened by that fourth round loss…
…that said, another Grand Slam title in the women’s doubles draw and a chance to quickly put that behind with this Adelaide International campaign should hold Mertens in a good stead.
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Sevastova Delivers Surprise Result
Having won just one match all season, with four defeats to go with that, not too many expected Sevastova to get much out of her opening round match here in Adelaide. Facing Caroline Garcia and starting out a rank outsider at 6/4 to win the encounter, the Latvian player stunned a few with her 6-2, 6-4 win over the Frenchwoman.
This victory stalled her three-match losing streak, after she had lost in the second round of the Yarra Valley Classic to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, then fallen in straight sets to Kaia Kanepi, before Ana Bogdan overcame a set deficit to clinch a three-setter.
Unfortunately for her, this has been one of those rare wins Sevastova has managed at the odd time over the last 15 or so months. Even last year, Sevastova won just one match all season, losing nine in the process. So while a second win this early in the year is already better than what she did in 2020, it is more an indicator of how poor her form has been for some time now.
Mertens v Sevastova Prediction and Tip
This has all the makings of a one-sided match, with Mertens expected to win in straight sets. Going for that, or even the under games market.
Tip: Mertens to win in straight sets: 4/7 (bet365)
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The 2021 WTA Adelaide International will be played from February 22 to 28. You can watch & bet on the these matches here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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