The 2020 Linz Open will draw to a close with top seed Aryna Sabalenka taking on 21st-ranked and second-seeded Elise Mertens in the tournament’s final. This match between doubles partners is scheduled for Sunday, November 15, and is likely to begin at around 3:00 pm local time (9:00 am Eastern Time). Get the live streaming options of this Aryna Sabalenka v Elise Mertens match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Aryna Sabalenka v Elise Mertens Head to Head
This will be the sixth meeting between the two players.
Aryna Sabalenka currently leads 3-2 on head-to-head meetings. She won their most recent fixture, which came in the 2020 Dubai Tennis Championships. Additionally, she also defeated Elise Mertens in the 2019 WTA Elite Trophy, en route to winning the trophy, and in the 2018 edition of the Eastbourne International.
On the other hand, Elise Mertens’ two wins came in the 2018 Canadian Open, and in Lugano in the 2018 final of the Ladies Open Lugano.
With regards to surfaces, Sabalenka has defeated Mertens twice on hard courts and once on a grass court. Mertens, conversely, has defeated the Belarusian once on a hard court and once on a clay court.
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Sabalenka Aiming For Back To Back Titles
Sabalenka will be aiming for back to back titles when she faces Mertens on Sunday. Having recently won the Ostrava Open against her compatriot Victoria Azarenka, she came into this tournament as the top seed and the favorite to clinch the title.
For most of the tournament, she has been untouchable. Her recent semi-final win against Barbora Krejčíková was the closest match that she’s had in a while. It was the first in the whole tournament that she had in fact lost a set and the first time since her Ostrava Open quarter-final against Sara Sorribes Tormo that she had done so.
Both Krejčíková and Sabalenka looked shaky in their matchup, but the Czech should be given credit for containing Sabalenka’s firepower for most of the match and holding her off to a 31-game affair.
She also recovered 11/15 break points that Sabalenka got, but a late break point conversion by Sabalenka in the match’s penultimate game proved costly and gave The Belarusian a route to her third final of the year.
Regarding her prior finals, Sabalenka won both her finals this year in Doha and Ostrava and has an okay 7-4 win/loss record in WTA finals. She will, however, enter the final against Mertens as the favorite to win the trophy.
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Mertens Reaches Second Final Of The Year
Five-time title winner Elise Mertens came from a set down to beat Ekaterina Alexandrova and earn her second final of the year. The match, expected to be a close one from the onset, tilted Alexandrova’s way in the beginning.
The Russian dominated her opponent in the first set, ensuring that she gave away no break points and capitalized on two out of the four break points that she got in that set to claim it 6-2.
Mertens fought back in the second set. She won it 6-1, achieving that victory in a mere 29 minutes. Additionally, she more than doubled Alexandrova’s 12 points with her 25 points and capitalized on all three break points that came her way despite letting her opponent convert the only break that she got in that set.
Mertens carried that momentum into the third set, which was more closely fought, but she converted one more break point than Alexandrova which proved crucial in giving her the set 7-5.
This will now be her second final of the year, her eighth in total. Despite losing in Prague to Simona Halep earlier this year, she still has a good record in finals. She’s won five of the seven finals that she has played so far in her career, including one against her Sunday opponent Aryna Sabalenka.
Sabalenka v Mertens Prediction and Tip
As all finals often tend to be, I expect a nervy affair between the two baseliners. The match could easily tip either way and could easily be decided by brief moments of control. And despite Sabalenka’s recent straight-sets dominance, I expect both to at least win a set and have the title decided in a third set.
Tip: Match to have three sets: 6/4 (bet365)
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The 2020 Linz Open will be played from November 9 to November 15. You can watch & bet on the Linz Open here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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