World number seven Aryna Sabalenka will take on Chinese player and 40th-ranked Zhang Shuai in the first round of the 2021 WTA Stuttgart Open on Monday, April 19. Get the live streaming options of this Aryna Sabalenka v Zhang Shuai match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Aryna Sabalenka v Zhang Shuai Head to Head
At the highest level, their only meeting came at the 2018 Hobart International where Sabalenka won the second round match in straight sets. Two years before that when Sabalenka was still looking to establish herself, they had faced off on the ITF circuit and Zhang had come away a 6-4, 6-2 winner in that encounter.
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Sabalenka Starts off on Clay for 2021
With a title already under her belt this season, Sabalenka has also moved up to her career-best WTA ranking of seventh in the world and that’s despite the obvious difficulties associated with moving up and down the tweaked system.
Sabalenka, however, would be a tad disappointed she hasn’t gone deep enough in some of the tournaments after the first one of the season which she had gone on to win. The Belarusian made it as far as the fourth round at the Australian Open and was then bumped out in the quarterfinals at both, Dubai and Miami.
To be fair to Sabalenka, barring the Gippsland Trophy loss to Kaia Kanepi, the rest of her defeats have come at the hands of Serena Williams, Garbine Muguruza (twice) and Serena Williams – three of the toughest women opposition in the world at the moment.
The other question is whether Sabalenka can reciprocate her form on hard court on to clay where she has a middling record, including a 14-12 win-loss record in main draws over the last three seasons.
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Shuai on a Five-Match Losing Streak
Shuai looked to have done well to make it to the fourth round at the French Open last year but a defeat there to Petra Kvitova set off a string of defeats which is yet to be stalled.
She fell in her opener at the Ostrava Open and then followed it up with three losses in a row this season which includes opening round ousters at the Australian Open, Miami Open and the Charleston Open played two weeks ago.
What makes those defeats hard to understand for the former world number 23 is they haven’t come against any of the top players but to the likes of Ann Li, Andrea Petkovic and Leylah Fernandez with Zhang not even winning a set.
And now she has come up against a prolific player in superlative form. Sure going to get difficult.
Sabalenka v Shuai Prediction and Tip
This is going just one way and that’s in the direction of Sabalenka who is also a whopping 1/8 to win this. A straight-set win is at 1/3 and Sabalenka is also miles ahead on the games handicap. We might have an opening there.
Tip: Games Handicap Zhang +6.5: 10/11 (bet365)
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The 2021 WTA Stuttgart Open will be played from April 19 to 25. You can watch & bet on these matches here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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