The 2019 WTA Tour continues in Spain with the Mutua Madrid Open taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday the 7th and 8th of May 2019. Check out our full betting preview below.
2019 WTA Tour | WTA Premier Mandatory
Mutua Madrid Open | Caja Magica (Outdoor Clay)
Selected Round of 32 and 16 Matches | 7-8 May 2019
Round of 32 | 7 May 2019
Angelique Kerber (6/10)
vs Petra Martic (23/20)
Current Wimbledon Champion Angelique Kerber knows that all she needs is a French Open title to complete the career Grand Slam. Clay has never been her favourite surface and she will be hoping to defy expectations on that Grand Slam quest. She reached the quarter-finals last week in Stuttgart and has generally been quite consistent this season. Clearly, that run to the final of Indian Wells was the highlight of her year thus far. But one wonders if the physical vagaries of playing so many events of late may catch up to the popular German as the year progresses. She looked laboured in Germany and this may represent a great opportunity for her less fancied opponent.
The 28 year-old Croatian, Petra Martic, has enjoyed a fairly amazing return from what looked to be a career-threatening back injury. She came back last year and went into the French Open with a 17-3 win/loss record. She would beat both Madison Keys and Sevatsova en route to a creditable fourth-round showing. She reached the final in Bucharest and clearly has an affinity with the clay-courts. She is actually in the midst of some really potent clay-court form, flying nicely under the radar. She reached the semi-finals of the Charleston Open prior to that Istanbul Cup victory. The Croatian already beat Garbine Muguruza in the opening round and will look to continue her giant-killing ways with this match.
This will be their 4th meeting, with Petra Martic actually leading that particular head-to-head count 2-1. But it’s really hard to make any sound deductions based on that: they last met way back in 2012 at Roland Garros. I just have a sneaking suspicion that Martic is the one to beat here. Her clay-court form has been sound and Kerber does have a penchant for crashing out early to dark horses with some form.
Round of 16 | 8 May 2019
Kiki Bertens (3/10)
vs Anastasija Sevatsova (21/10)
This should be a fascinating battle between two of last year’s sleeper hits. It also should be a gruelling battle between two arch baseliners who thrive on this surface. 27-year-old Dutch star Kiki Bertens has perhaps pushed on a bit better than her Latvian opponent this season. Bertens enjoyed a stellar 2018 campaign, claiming titles in Charleston, Korea and Canada. She showed an ability on all surfaces, which included a stellar run to last year’s final here: she would go on to lose to her Czech nemesis Petra Kvitova. Bertens has remained resolute this season, already claiming a title in St Petersburg. She reached the semi-finals in Stuttgart last time out and has already overcome a fairly tricky draw thus far. She beat Siniakova and Ostapenko thus far and will be looking to build up a head of steam with the clay-court season in full swing.
29-year-old Latvian Anastasija Sevatsova has seen off both Flipkens and Buzarnesco thus far. This, however, will be a particularly tough encounter for Sevatsova. As I said earlier, Sevatsova enjoyed a tremendously consistent 2018. She reached three finals and managed to win the Bucharest Open on clay. She has actually won two titles on clay and uses her fantastic mobility to her advantage. But her 2019 season has been beset by fairly poor form. She hasn’t managed to get past the quarter-final stage yet this season. But she has proved a dogged all-court competitor of late and she will be feeling quietly confident going into this match. And there is a weird statistical anomaly to consider this week.
This will be the third meeting between these two, with each and every match taking place at the Madrid Open. In 2017 it was the Latvian who won, while Kiki Bertens exacted her revenge last year. So this match will be both their third ever meeting and third consecutive meeting in this very event. Bertens has won 7 of her last 10 while Sevatsova has only won 5 in 10. Bertens is something of a no-brainer for this one and could be worth a stab to win in straight sets at 17/20.
Written by Damien Kayat for Hollywoodbets
