Katie Boulter of Great Britain, ranked 371 in the world, will be up against Daria Kasatkina of Russia, ranked 71, in the opening round of the 2021 Australian Open on Monday, February 8, with the match likely to begin at around 1 pm local time (4 am Eastern Time). Get the live streaming options of this Katie Boulter v Daria Kasatkina match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Katie Boulter v Daria Kasatkina Head to Head
The pair have never played each other before. This will be the first encounter on court between the two 23-year-olds.
Read:
Boulter Back After Injury Lay-Off
Boulter has been ranked as high as 82 in the world, but her career has been derailed by a long injury lay-off, and that has seen her ranking plunge. She is only able to take her place in the main draw because of her protected ranking.
Two years ago, she did make the second round in Melbourne, and that matched her previous best showing in a Grand Slam event which came on home soil at Wimbledon a year earlier.
She had an impressive run through in the Gippsland Trophy last week, where she beat Anna Kalinskaya of Russia in the first round.
Boulter then met the highly-rated American teenager Coco Gauff, and, having lost the firsts set, faced a match point. She saved it, went on to level the match, and then clinched victory in the third.
Her run was ended by Naomi Osaka, but she by no means disgraced herself against the world number three. She won the first set before the Japanese player hit back to take the next two.
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Kasatkina Looking to Rediscover Form
Kasatkina’s best performance in Melbourne came in 2016 when she reached the third round; two years after that she was a quarter-finalist at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon. That though was something of a high water mark for her in Grand Slams events – she has not been beyond the second round in any of them since.
Her preferred surface is clay, so the hard fast courts of Melbourne do not suit her style of play.
2020 was by no means a year to remember for her, with her best performance coming in the early part of the year in Lyon where she reached the semi-final. Post-lockdown she struggled and finished the year with her lowest world ranking since 2015.
Compared to some players, she has already had a lot of match practice in 2021.
She got to the third round in Abu Dhabi before losing to Elena Rybakina, and then, last week, she reached the last eight of the Gippsland Trophy. In that run she had straight set wins over Mihaela Buzamescu of Romania and Polona Hercog of Slovakia, before she eventually went down to the Estonian Kaia Kanepi.
Boulter v Kasatkina Prediction and Tip
Kasatkina is the overwhelming favourite to win this match against an opponent currently ranked 300 places below her in the world. Boulter proved she has fighting ability in the Gippsland Trophy, but it would be a major shock if she were to win this match.
Tip: Podoroska to win in three sets: 3/1 (bet365)
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The 2021 Australian Open will be played from February 8 to 21. You can watch & bet on these matches here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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