World number 44 Varvara Gracheva will face the 188th-ranked Selena Janicijevic in the second round of the 2023 WTA Strasbourg Open on Wednesday, May 24. Get the predictions and odds of this Varvara Gracheva v Selena Janicijevic match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
- Other Strasbourg Open match previews & predictions options here
Varvara Gracheva v Selena Janicijevic Head to Head
No previous WTA matches have been played between these two players. They did face off once before on the ITF circuit and Gracheva had won it in straight sets
Also Read:
Gracheva Scrapes Past Bai
Despite starting out a 1/7 favourite in her opening round encounter against Zhuoxuan Bai, Gracheva was pushed to the distance before scraping through to a win.
Gracheva was on court for nearly two and a half hours before coming through in a third set tie-breaker against her 209th-ranked opponent. She won 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (3) to reach the second round for the first time in this tournament. Her previous two attempts in 2021 and 2022 had seen her lose her openers.
Having won just one match in Charleston, Madrid and Rome combined, Gracheva had been forced to feature in a WTA 125 tournament in Paris last week. She made the semifinal there to give her some respite following that previously poor run on clay.
Gracheva will hope to make it two in two matches for the first time since Miami Open where she had made the fourth round.
Also Read:
Janicijevic Overturns Oceane in Opener
Oceane Dodin was a 9/20 favourite to overcome Janicijevic in the first round and when she romped through the first set of their encounter, it looked like the match was going to script.
Except it did not as Janicijevic brought out all her clay court experience to the fore and edged out her opponent 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 to register a rare main draw win.
Janicijevic, who is more tuned to playing on the lower circuit all her career and has never been ranked better than 171st in the world, barely managed to hold serve in the first set, and then broke her opponent twice in the second to level things out.
In the decider, the two went toe to toe till 2-2 before Janicijevic earned herself a decisive break in the fifth game. She closed things out soon after, losing just four more points on her serve.
Can she do something similar against a player ranked around 140 places ahead of her?
Gracheva v Janicijevic Prediction and Tip
Gracheva is having the time of her life on court this season but all that has been down to her performances in hardcourt competitions. On clay, things even out a tad and while she will still be a favourite, we think this could go to the third again.
Tips:
- Low Risk Tip: Over 8.5 games in the first set: 4/7
- Moderate Risk Tip: Over 20.5 games in the match: 10/11
The 2023 WTA Strasbourg Open will be played from May 21 to 27. You can get all the tennis betting news with our tennis betting blog here. Also get rest of the tennis match previews here.
Be the first to comment