USA’s Jessica Pegula will face up to the former US Open champion and Australia’s Samantha Stosur in the second round of the 2021 Australian Open on Thursday, February 11, with the match likely to begin at around 11 am local time (12 noon BST or 7 pm Eastern Time previous day). Get the live streaming options of this Jessica Pegula v Samantha Stosur match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Jessica Pegula v Samantha Stosur Head to Head
There have been two previous matches played between these players, with both having won one apiece. In their first in 2016, Pegula came away a 7-6, 6-4 winner at the Washington Open before Stosur had her revenge when she beat the American at the Strasbourg Open of 2019.
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Pegula Knocks Out US Open Runnerup
In one of the biggest first round surprises, Pegula overcame Victoria Azarenka in straight-sets, winning against a player who was expected to go deep into the second week albeit one who was clearly hindered by medical issues.
While Azarenka refused to reveal what her problem was, it was evident she had trouble breathing and Pegula showed no mercy in clinching her first round win 7-5, 6-4 in nearly 100 minutes.
Pegula hammered six aces and was 24-24 on winners and unforced errors throughout the match, but her ability to grit it out and break Azarenka when the pressure got high saw her through. For instance, in the first set, Azarenka led 5-2 at one stage only for Pegula to retaliate with successive breaks of serve.
In the second set, Pegula was a break up, got broken back but then broke right back before holding her nerve while serving out for the match.
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Stosur Sees off Fellow Aussie
Ranked outside the top 100 these days, Stosur wasn’t even the favourite going into the encounter against a player ranked 203rd in the world, a fellow Aussie Dastanee Aiava – such has been her run of form. In fact last season, Stosur featured in only five main draw matches at WTA events – including a $125k event – and won just one match, indicating the fall from her one-time WTA ranking of number four in the world.
When she began this season with a first round defeat at the tuneup tournament in Melbourne, going down to Marie Bouzkova – and going down 6-2, 6-0 in fact – it looked like she would be heading towards another opening round exit, like has been the case at five of her previous six Grand Slam appearances.
An hour and 38 minutes later, and despite getting broken four times across two sets, Stosur had registered another of those rare wins in a Grand Slam singles competition. She came through 6-4, 6-4 which included a bizarre first set that consisted of nine breaks of serves in 10 games.
Can she do better than that against the world number 61?
Pegula v Stosur Prediction and Tip
Pegula might only be 40 ranks ahead of Stosur but as far as quality of tennis goes, this could be a one-way traffic in favour of Pegula, who can be expected to win in straight sets.
Tip: Pegula to win in straight sets: 4/7 (bet365)
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The 2021 Australian Open will be played from February 8 to 21. You can watch & bet on the these matches here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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