World number 11 Kiki Bertens will hope to set the ball rolling for herself when she plays Tereza Martincova in the second round of the 2021 WTA Dubai on Tuesday, March 9. The match is yet to be scheduled. Get the live streaming options of this Kiki Bertens v Tereza Martincova match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Kiki Bertens v Tereza Martincova Head to Head
Bertens and Martincova have never faced off against each other before this.
Also Read:
Bertens Dumped in Late Season Opener
It wasn’t until the first week of March that Bertens finally made her first appearance of the season and her comeback didn’t last too long. Playing Jelena Ostapenko in her first match since coming back from an Achilles Heel surgery, Bertens was left stunned by the Latvian at that competition in Doha.
While a defeat isn’t that bad a result for someone playing in her first match in months, what was surprising was the manner of the defeat. Bertens won a mere two games in the entire match, and looked tentative for most part.
Which is why, it would be interesting to see how the 11th-ranked Dutchwoman goes about her business in her second match of the season. Not surprisingly, even the bookmakers have placed her as a tentative favourite, with Bertens coming in at 4/6 to go past her opponent but a lot will depend on whether she can get back into moving as freely as she did before the injury.
The big question is whether her opponent can take advantage of Bertens’ possible struggles or if the 11th-ranked player can find another gear from that previous match against Ostapenko.
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Three-Setters Galore for Martincova
Having never been ranked in the top 100, Martincova’s performances in this tournament have been some to remember, having won each of her two qualifiers and the first round match in three sets apiece. And the third of these three-setters saw her need nearly two and a half hours to make it through to the second round of the tournament.
Martincova grabbed the first set in a tie-breaker and was up a break on two separate occasions in the second set, only to hand the initiative back to her opponent, Kristyna Pliskova. Pliskova then raced off to a 5-0 lead in the second tie-breaker only for Martincova to show her fighting side, as she first saved a set-point and then level the tie-breaker at 6-6.
And while she then lost the next two points in succession to give away the set, it set an excellent precedent for the third set where Martincova looked like the better of the two players all throughout.
Surely enough she was rewarded with a break of serve in the sixth game which resulted in Martincova then serving for the match at 5-3 and she did that with ease to set up this second round match. This will be her second successive second round match on the WTA circuit, having earlier failed to qualify for the Australian Open and made not farther than the quarterfinal at an ITF event.
Bertens v Martincova Prediction and Tip
While Martincova is ranked more than 100 places behind her opponent, her recent form and Bertens’ struggles coming back from injury mean this could be a lot tighter than it seems. Bertens is a mere 4/6 to win this, which, to us seem quite solid odds for a player of her calibre whatever the context.
Tip: Bertens to win: 4/6 (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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