Damien Kayat previews selected fixtures from both the WTA Moroccan and Prague Open events taking place this week.
Moroccan Open
Ajla Tomljanovic 19/20 | Kirsten Flipkens 15/20
This would seem to be a no brainer looking at the head-to-head. Kirsten Flipkens leads the head-to-head 4-0, winning twice last year. However, that last win on clay in Nuremburg was an extremely tight three setter. 32-year-old Flipkens is a former World Number 13 who perhaps never fulfilled her potential. She has had a non-descript year thus far, though she did manage to reach the quarterfinals of the Lugano Open, on clay. She beat Petra Martic in the opening round here and will be hoping to use that positive head-to-head record to her psychological advantage here.
Croatian born Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic has largely plied her trade on the Challenger Series, earning herself two semi-finals in the process. I always tend to favour players who have been winning at a slightly lower level to those not winning at all. Tomljanovic did reach the quarterfinals in Monterrey, only to run into a firing Murguruza. She just reached the final 16 in Istanbul and will probably feel quietly confident this week, despite the opponent.
I think that Tomljanovic could record her first win over the Belgian here, especially when you consider how close that match was last year. Flipkens’ seems to be depreciating while there is some evidence of marginal improvement for the Aussie.
Prague Open
Krystina Pliskova 17/20 | Qiang Wang 17/20
The younger Pliskova was perhaps the prime benefactor of her twin sister’s decision to pull out this week. Pliskova played Sasnovich instead of her sister in the first round, and she ended up winning easily. Last year’s beaten finalist has enjoyed an indifferent year, but that recent run in Charleston seemed to suggest that the tide could be turning for Pliskova. She managed to beat Siniakova, Vesnina and Kvitova en route to that Quarterfinal. Pliskova will be motivated by her home crowd to progress in an event she came so close to capturing last season.
Fellow 26-year old Qiang Wang has had a largely middling season, though that superb run at Indian Wells underline her natural ability. She managed to beat the likes of Mertens and Mladenovic en route to an excellent Round of 16 showing there. Much like Pliskova she favours the harder courts, but unlike Pliskova she hasn’t really shown an ability to adapt to the slower stuff.
This will be the first meeting between these two, and you just must favour the Czech. She was a finalist here last year and currently sits in a dead heat in the odds. I don’t really see the carrot in backing Qiang Wang here.
Sam Stosur 5/10 | Denise Allertova 14/10
25-year-old Czech Denis Allertova is perhaps the least glamorous Czech name in attendance this week. The 104-ranked player in the world had a barnstorming start to the year, reaching the Round of 16 in the Australian Open. But her form hasn’t been great since then, with injury also seriously curtailing her time on court. She did reach a, ITF Quarterfinal in China recently, but her season has really been negligible thus far, with her victory over Schnyder in the first round here a welcome confidence boost.
34-year-old Stosur has become the female equivalent of Lleyton Hewitt for so many years on the women’s tour. She clearly hasn’t completely lost the will to compete, but her ability to really mix it with the best has escaped her. The former US Open Champion has had a poor season, with a Round of 16 loss to Gavrilova in Sydney probably her best result thus far. She managed to get through four qualifiers in Dubai before falling in the first round proper. She lost the first round in Miami and Charleston, and only progressed through to this stage because of Gavrilova retiring.
Stosur looks stupidly short at 5/10, the only play here is the Czech at 14/10.
Written by Damien Kayat for @Hollywoodbets.net
