World number two Aryna Sabalenka will face the 192nd-ranked Ann Li in the second round of the 2023 WTA Cincinnati Open on Wednesday, August 16. Get the predictions and odds of this Aryna Sabalenka v Ann Li match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Aryna Sabalenka v Ann Li Head to Head
They faced off in the third round of the 2021 Australian Open with Sabalenka easing past Li. That was their only meeting.
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Having begun the season in stunning fashion by winning her maiden Grand Slam singles title, Sabalenka looked to have come within touching distance of the number one position too.
Unfortunately for Sabalenka, she hasn’t quite been able to deliver the sucker punch and while her results haven’t quite been under-par, she would have liked to do a lot better than that.
Since winning the Madrid Open title, Sabalenka has lost her opener in Rome to Sofia Kenin, gone down to Karolina Muchova at the French Open, got beaten by Veronika Kudermetova at Berlin and then lost in the Wimbledon semifinal to Ons Jabeur.
Making matters slightly confounding for Sabalenka, she also failed to make it beyond the third round at the Canadian Open last week where Liudmilla Samsonova overcame her in three, hard-fought sets.
A semifinalist at Cincinnati last year, Sabalenka would like to get herself a solid showing here this year as well as she prepares to add a second Grand Slam to her kitty later this month.
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Li Continues to Shock
Forced to play on the ITF circuit as a result of her poor performances and rankings, Li opted to feature in the qualifiers here.
She played Lauren Davis in the first qualifying round, starting out an 8/5 underdog and was then 7/5 odds in the second qualifier against Alize Cornet but won both those encounters.
Still, Li wasn’t expected to do too much against Magda Linette, again, starting out at 6/5 odds in that encounter. And when she lost the first set 6-0, the writing seemed to be on the wall.
Except she didn’t quite follow the script.
Li forged a comeback, breaking Linette twice and while she lost her serve two more times too, the set was won by her in the ensuing tie-breaker.
The decider turned out to be a one-sided affair as Li went on to break Linette three times in a row before closing it out 6-2.
Things will be a lot different against Sabalenka though.
Sabalenka v Li Prediction and Tip
Sabalenka can be expected to cruise to a straight-set win here with the Li fight in this competition ending in a hurry.
Tips:
- Low Risk Tip: Sabalenka to win in straight sets: 1/2
- Moderate Risk Tip: Under 19.5 games in the match: 5/6
The 2023 WTA Cincinnati Open will be played from August 13 to 20. You can get all the tennis betting news with our tennis betting blog here. Also get rest of the tennis match previews here.
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