World number 51 Jelena Ostapenko will take on Spain’s Paula Badosa in the opening round of the 2021 WTA St. Petersburg Open on Monday, March 15. All the live streaming options for this Jelena Ostapenko v Paula Badosa encounter and its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Jelena Ostapenko v Paula Badosa Head to Head
Their only previous encounter had come on the clay courts of the 2020 French Open. Facing off in the third round, Badosa had run past Ostapenko in straight sets to make it to her maiden round of 16 match in a Grand Slam.
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Ostapenko Struggling to Make Deep Runs
Ostapenko looked to have been heading into a second wave of good career form when the 2019 season ended. The Latvian player had made it to the final of the Linz Open and then won the title in Luxembourg to give herself a chance of breaking back into the top 20.
Unfortunately for her, things haven’t panned out the way they were supposed to be since.
The Latvian hasn’t won more than two matches in any of the tournaments since that title victory and even winning two matches in a row has come in just four competitions. This includes one early this season where she made it to the third round at the Gippsland Trophy but that has been followed by an opening round loss at the Australian Open and second round defeats in Doha and Dubai.
And while she starts off as a favourite in this opener, Ostapenko will know she will be up against it.
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Badosa Hovering Around Her Career-Best
Having made it to a career-best ranking of 67th on the WTA charts, Badosa currently is just two spots behind that and looking to break into the top 60 for the first time. And her path to do that might not be the toughest around.
Because after this opening round encounter against the sixth seeded Ostapenko whom she has beaten in the past, she has one of qualifier Jaqueline Cristian or Vera Lapko to face in the second round. And it would only be at the quarterfinal stage where she might face a toughie in the form of Svetlana Kuznetsova but by then, if she can find the kind of rhythm has had in the recent past, Badosa should consider herself an equal in that kind of a contest.
But we are going too far ahead of ourselves here, and the reason for that much confidence has to be Badosa’s form last year and her performance at the Abu Dhabi Open in January and then again at the Lyon Open a week ago.
After making it a far as the third round in the first tournament, she overcame Harmony Tan, Stefanie Voegele and Kristina Mladenovic to enter the semifinal at the Lyon Open.
Can she put up a similar showing?
Ostapenko v Badosa Prediction and Tip
While Ostapenko is 1/2 to win this we think Badosa’s recent form deserves a mention and she has a good chance of usurping Ostapenko in this one.
Tip: Games Handicap Badosa +3.5: 5/6 (bet365)
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The 2021 WTA St. Petersburg Open will be played from March 14-21. You can watch & bet on these matches here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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