Some of the first round action at the 2021 WTA St. Petersburg Open will see Stefanie Voegele take on Tereza Martincova, Katerina Siniakova play Kirsten Flipkens and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova be up against Cagla Büyükakçay in opening round matches on Tuesday, March 16. Get the live streaming options along the predictions, preview and head to head for all these matches.
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Stefanie Voegele v Tereza Martincova Preview
In a match between two players ranked outside the top 100, Martincova will hope to take advantage of her recent form to topple Voegele out of the opening round of this tournament.
After having failed to qualify for the Australian Open, Martincova featured in a couple of ITF competitions to get some rhythm going and even made it as far as the quarterfinal of the Grenoble tournament.
This was followed by her return to the WTA circuit late last month where she won a couple of qualifying rounds to make the main draw before edging past Giulia Gatto-Monticone to enter the second round.
And she went better in Dubai last week where again, as a qualifier she did not just enter the third round but also defeated Kristyna Pliskova and Kiki Bertens en route.
As compared to that, Voegele has won just one main draw match all season, having featured in one qualifying round for the Australian Open and an ITF competition other than that where she was knocked out in the second round.
Martincova starts a heavy favourite.
Voegele v Martincova Tip
Martincova to win: 4/11 (bet365)
Katerina Siniakova v Kirsten Flipkens Preview
World number 69 Siniakova will look to avenge her previous loss at the hands of the 92nd-ranked Flipkens when the pair had met in their first and only meeting at the Cincinnati Open last season. Flipkens had won 6-3, 6-3 to make the second round there.
However, she will need to overturn major form issues to be able to do that. Sinikaova has had a wretched start to the season, having failed to make it past the first hurdle at both, the Grampians Trophy and Australian Open and then not even entering the main draw in Doha.
And then, Siniakova saw another first round defeat in Dubai at the hands of Ons Jabeur to leave her struggling.
Flipkens hasn’t played too much though, so rustiness will be a definite concern. She made it as far as the second round at the Abu Dhabi Open and then crashed out in the first round at the Australian Open, going down to Venus Williams.
All in all this equates to a tough one to call but the one thing that looks likely is a three-setter as a result.
Siniakova v Flipkens Tip
Three sets in the match: 6/4 (bet365)
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Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova v Cagla Büyükakçay Preview
This will be the second time that the 45th-ranked Pavlyuchenkova and world number 181 Buyukakcay will be facing off in an encounter. The first had come way back in 2016, at the French Open and Pavlyuchenkova had won that second round match in three sets.
It’s not been the kind of start to the season that Pavlyuchenkova would have hoped for. She had made it to the third round at the Yarra Valley Classic but other than that things have fallen apart drastically for the Russian. She fell in the first round of the Abu Dhabi Open earlier, lost to Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open and then last week was a first round casualty yet again in Dubai.
The good news for Pavlyuchenkova is she will be facing a player who has herself had an underwhelming start to the season. Buyukakcay’s only wins this season have come at the ITF level and the qualifying rounds of some of the WTA events, while also losing in opening rounds of other competitions.
In a tussle between two off-colour players, Pavlyuchenkova should cruise past her opponent.
Pavlyuchenkova v Büyükakçay Tip
Pavlyuchenkova to win in straight sets: 4/11 (bet365)
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The 2021 WTA St. Petersburg Open will be played from March 15 to 21. You can watch & bet on the these matches here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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