World No. 5 Karolina Pliskova will start her campaign in the ongoing 2019 WTA Qatar Open Doha on Wednesday; to face the Belgian Elise Mertens in the opener. The match will start at around 5 pm local time (2 pm BST).
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Karolina Pliskova v Elise Mertens Head to Head
This is the first time that the two ladies are set to meet each other on the WTA Tour.
Pliskova’s Dominating Start to the Season
Pliskova is one of the few players this year who has started their season on an excellent note. Seeded fifth for the tournament in Doha, the Czech won the Brisbane International earlier this year and followed it with a run to the semifinal in the Australian Open.
In Melbourne, her performance was particularly impressive as she defeated the likes of Garbine Muguruza and Serena Williams. However, in the Fed Cup last weekend, she lost a crucial tie of Simona Halep of Romania – a loss that prevented her nation from proceeding to the next round.
Nonetheless, she has cemented her place in the top 5 and looks primed to move up further. Last season, she won a couple of Premier-level tournaments in Stuttgart and Japan and was also the runner-up in Tianjin.
Mertens – A Rising Star on the Horizon?
The 23-year-old Belgian impressed a lot of spectators in the previous season. She won three singles titles – Hobart, Lugano, and Morocco, and was also a semifinalist in the Australian Open.
Over the course of the season, Mertens reached the penultimate rounds in big events like San Jose, Cincinnati, and Montreal. Owing to this, she reached her career-best ranking of No. 12 in the world but dropped down to the 21st place by the end of her campaign in Melbourne this year.
Over there, she made it as far as the third round before losing to Madison Keys – she incurred a similar defeat in Sydney as well.
Pliskova v Mertens Predictions & Tips
The Czech will start this match as the favourite to win. While Mertens can present some problems to Pliskova, it is hard to imagine her defeat her in-form, confident opponent. We can expect a good match here and expect the second seed to win with bet365 at 4/9 right now.
You can watch & bet on Karolina Pliskova v Elise Mertens on Wednesday, February 13, after 5:00 pm local time.
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