The second round action at the 2019 WTA Guangzhou Open 2019 continues on Wednesday, September 18 with Elina Svitolina leading the way for a second successive day. will take to court for their campaign-openers. Latest Elina Svitolina v Marie Bouzkova & Sofia Kenin v Katarina Zavatska tips and predictions with their previews along with others can be found below.
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Elina Svitolina v Marie Bouzkova Preview
Elina Svitolina’s second round match against Marie Bouzkova will be her very first meeting with the 63rd-ranked Czech and comes on the heels of a straightforward win in the first round. Svitolina defeated Dalila Jakupovic 6-3, 6-3 to make it to the round of 16 while Bouzkova needed three sets and a tie-breaker in the final set to make it through.
What will worry Bouzkova is she was stretched to the distance by the little-known, 243rd-ranked Fang Ying Xun, not quite the best result going into a match against the world. Where Bouzkova will take some hope from is Svitolina’s early defeat last week at the hands of Kristina Mladenovic, a sign she is not invincible despite her excellent run at the US Open.
Bouzkova had also made it as far as the semi-final at the Toronto Open last month, another morale-boosting result for a player featuring at the lower, ITF levels before that. Still, Svitolina should go through without too many issues one feels.
Tip: Svitolina to win in straight sets: 8/11 (Unibet)
Sofia Kenin v Katarina Zavatska Preview
It’s the battle of youth when the 19-year-old Katarina Zavatska takes on 20-year-old Sofia Kenin but the difference in their rankings makes this a potentially one-sided match. Kenin is 20th in the world, coming off back to back semi-finals at Toronto and Cincinnati and a two titles this year.
Zavatska, at 139th in the world, is 12 places below her best ever ranking, and needed a couple of wins in the qualifiers to make it through to the main draw. She had overcome Sara Errani in one of them, before needing a gritty, three-set win to get past Fiona Ferro in the opening round.
Despite playing at the lower circuits, Zavatska’s record on hard court surfaces hasn’t been too much to talk about, with just eight wins and nine losses to her name. Easy win for Kenin much like what happened in the first round when she defeated Laura Siegemund 6-4, 6-2.
Tip: Games Handicap Sofia Kenin -5.5: 3/4 (Unibet)
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Shuai Zhang v Andrea Petkovic Preview
Here’s an intriguing tie. Shuai Zhang is a seeded player in this tournament on account of her world number 34 ranking while Andrea Petkovic is 77th on the WTA charts. What makes this interesting is their head to head despite that discrepancy, Petkovic leading Zhang 3-0!
Their last meeting came as recently as the New York Open where Petkovic won in straight sets, after having won at Strasbourg in 2011 and Wimbledon last year. Basically a win on all three surfaces for the German.
Which is why the odds of 4/6 for a Zhang win to 29/20 for Petkovic taking home this tie sound something to go for. Petkovic, who had beaten Petra Kvitova at the US Open last month, might hold bit of an edge here, especially given Zhang’s form on hard court (11-14 win-loss) hasn’t been too brilliant.
Tip: Petkovic to win: 29/20 (Unibet)
Katerina Siniakova v Viktoriya Golubic Preview
Fifth seeded Katerina Siniakova will be up against Viktoriya Golubic in this second round tie that promises to be another ripper. Golubic had won their only previous match, back in 2017, but Siniakova has risen to 38th in the world at the moment to her opponent’s 73rd.
Siniakova is coming off a straight-set win, although her opponent Elena Rybakina did retire from their match, but then so is Golubic. Golubic overcame Xiyu Wang 6-3, 6-3 to cement this meeting.
Now while Siniakova hasn’t had the best of seasons when it comes to hard court surfaces, having also gotten knocked out in round one at the US Open, she did make a semi-final appearance at the New York Open. That said, Golubic’s fight qualities will come to the fore and make this a three-set encounter.
Tip: Three sets in the match: 8/5 (Unibet)