World number 12 Belinda Bencic will have a task on her hands when she takes on the 18th-ranked Iga Swiatek in the 2021 WTA Adelaide International final on Saturday, February 27, with the match likely to begin at around 1 pm local time. Get the live streaming options of this Belinda Bencic v Iga Swiatek match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Belinda Bencic v Iga Swiatek Head to Head
This will be the first meeting between Belinda Bencic and Iga Switek.
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Swiatek Jogs Past Jil
The world number 18 has made it a habit, winning in straight sets. Another match, this time a quarterfinal at this tournament against Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann, and Swiatek rode past her opponent without breaking into much of a sweat.
The match lasted one hour and 22 minutes in which Swiatek broke her opponent thrice of the eight chances she got to clinch the encounter 6-3, 6-2. In turn, she faced just one break-point and thwarted her opponent rather easily to come through.
All that the Polish player needed was one break of serve in the first set – which came in the fourth game – and while she had a chance to win the set on Teichmann’s serve in the eighth game, she missed that clinched it on her own.
It was all one-way traffic in the second set once Swiatek saved a break-point at 1-2, breaking her opponent in the fifth and the seventh game of the set to complete the facile win.
And as wins go, this was Swiatek’s sixth successive victory in straight sets – there was a defeat at the Australian Open between that – with the Pole having dropped a mere 18 games across the eight sets she has played all tournament.
Swiatek had earlier come through against Madison Brengle and Maddison Inglis in the first two rounds before her opponent Danielle Collins retired in the second set of their quarterfinal encounter.
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Bencic Breaks Gauff Run
It took Bencic two hours and 48 minutes but she was finally able to stall the three-set queen Cori Gauff in their semifinal which was held on Friday. Gauff, a qualifier, had come into the match on the back of a three-match winning run all of which went into three sets.
This included two matches in which Gauff had won from being a set down, which is why when Bencic edged out the American in the first set, she would have known it’s not yet curtains. Not even when Bencic first took a 2-0 lead and then despite a break back, went ahead 5-3 to serve for the match.
Gauff rallied back, overcoming a match-point to break back, take the set into a tie-breaker before running away in it to claim an equaliser.
To Bencic’s credit, she didn’t let that affect her psyche too much and broke Gauff immediately in the final set. Another break of serve in the fifth game all but sealed the deal for the Swiss number one who had earlier dispatched Misaki Doi and Storm Sanders in straight sets to make it this far.
This will Bencic’s first final on the tour since her 2019 Kremlin Cup win.
Bencic v Swiatek Prediction and Tip
While Bencic will take a lot of confidence from having defeated one teenager, that win, especially this late in the competition, would have taken a lot out of her. And she is facing a player showing the kind of spark that was on display when she went on to win the French Open last year. Tipping Swiatek to edge this.
Tip: Swiatek to win: 8/11 (bet365)
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The 2021 WTA Adelaide International will be played from February 22 to 28. You can watch & bet on the these matches here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.