World number 21 Elise Mertens will take on Ukrainian qualifier Anhelina Kalinina in the first round of the 2020 Linz Open on Tuesday, November 10 with the match expected to begin at around 5 pm local time (5 pm BST or 12 noon Eastern Time). Below you can find live streaming options of this Elise Mertens v Anhelina Kalinina match along with its preview, head to head, and tips.
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Elise Mertens v Anhelina Kalinina Head to Head
This will be the first meeting between these two players.
Also Read:
Consistent Mertens Still Without a Title in 2020
If there’s one player who deserves a WTA title this year for her consistent performances in all of 2020, it has to be Mertens. The world number 21 has been consistent throughout, having also reached a final and a semifinal across two different surfaces but has missed out on breaking the duck for the season.
At the Prague Open, it was the thundering Simona Halep who stopped her in the final while Naomi Osaka got the better of Mertens at the Cincinnati Open following that.
Mertens then reached the quarterfinals of both, the US Open and Rome Open but fell to Victoria Azarenka and Karolina Pliskova respectively. It was only at the French Open that Mertens finally lost a match going in as a favourite – her ability to brush aside opponents ranked lower than her has been marvel-worthy.
She enters this competition on the back of another quarterfinal defeat to Azarenka which came at the Ostrava Open but playing an opponent who has never seen the top 100 in the rankings shouldn’t pose too much of a threat.
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Kalinina Hasn’t Won Main Draw Match All Year
The difference in the two players can be found in their rankings – Kalinina’s ranked 163rd to her opponent’s 21st – but more vitally, while Mertens is hunting for that elusive title this season, Kalinina hasn’t even won a match in the main draw of a WTA event.
Her best performance came on the ITF circuit where she reached the final of the Midland competition there, before having to withdraw from the match because of fitness concerns. That happened in February but since then the form has fallen away.
In no tournament, including at the ITF level or qualifiers, had Kalinina managed to win more than a match before this competition in Linz. It’s finally here in Austria, Kalinina defeated Isabella Shinikova and Katarina Zavatska in back to back qualifying rounds to make the main draw.
Given her own form and the parity in the quality of the two players, it looks like Kalinina might still be left without a main draw win this season.
Mertens v Kalinina Prediction And Tip
Odds of 1/12 for a Mertens win aren’t worth giving a second look but we could see Kalinina give some sort of a fight given she is coming off a 6-0, 4-0 result in her previous qualifier. Still a straight-set loss but could push her opponent to win a few games.
Tip: Over 17.5 games in the match: 8/11 (bet365)
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The 2020 Sofia Open will be played from November 9 to November 15. You can watch & bet on the Sofia Masters here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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