13th seed Petra Martic has dominant record against France’s Kristina Mladenovic. Will she continue to terrorize the Frenchwoman when they meet in the first round of the 2021 WTA Dubai on Monday, March 8. The match will be scheduled soon. Get the live streaming options of this Petra Martic v Kristina Mladenovic match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Petra Martic v Kristina Mladenovic Head to Head
Mladenovic is possibly Martic’s best opponent. The Croatian has won five of their six meetings before this. That includes their epic quarterfinal encounter in Istanbul in 2019, where Martic won one of the longest WTA matches of the season en route to her first career title.
Also Read:
Martic Reached Dubai Semifinal Last Year
Petra Martic has always been a slow starter, but for a split second she had many of us (including myself) believing she has finally found some momentum to build on for the remaining few days of the first quarter. When she reached the quarterfinals of the newly-minted Phillip Island Trophy, she had a difficult time in closing out her second round match a week after that, losing to teenager Coco Gauff.
The Australian Open courts this year are the fastest that they have ever been according to the players. These conditions present an area of vulnerability in Martic’s game.
The Croatian has very heavy groundstrokes on both wings, and her forehand is her signature shot, which is a work of patience and focus. When Martic has less to prepare the shot, she is bound to rack up more unforced errors, as highlighted by the number of three set matches she played during the course of her one-month stay Down Under.
Martic’s arrival to Dubai is akin to last year where she had a modest run of form in Australia, but performed brilliantly in Emirates’ second city. She made the semifinals last year, where she lost to one of the breakout stars of 2020 in Elena Rybakina.
Can the 13th seed repeat those exploits when she takes on a familiar foe?
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Mladenovic Looking to Address Poor Showings
There has been a rare occurrence in 2021, as Kristina Mladenovic attempts to resurrect her singles career. The Frenchwoman won back-to-back matches in two separate tournaments. While this may not be a headline-grabbing achievement, it is something that did not materialize in Mladenovic’s 2020 season at tour level.
Mladenovic is 4-5 for the season, but should be riding a wave of hopefulness arriving in Dubai, after making the quarterfinals at her home tournament in Lyon. It was a first since 2019 Kremlin Cup in Moscow.
But the 27-year-old has had some horror draws to begin the year, which is partly due to her ranking (currently outside the top 50). An opening round loss to Garbine Muguruza in Abu Dhabi was followed by back-to-back defeats to in-form American Jessica Pegula in Melbourne.
Mladenovic will now attempt to address a poor record against Petra Martic. Since winning their first match in the series in Quebec in 2013, Martic has won each of the last five meetings (three of them in straight sets).
Martic v Mladenovic Prediction and Tip
This is just a very bad matchup for the Frenchwoman. Regardless of form, Martic is still able to worry Mladenovic with her court presence and very effective heavy groundstrokes. Still, we fancy the Frenchwoman to at least take a set here.
Tip: Mladenovic to win a set – Yes: 8/13 (bet365)
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The 2021 WTA Dubai Open will be played from March 8 to 14. You can watch & bet on these matches here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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