The 2019 WTA Tour continues with selected round of 32 matches from Nature Valley International (Eastbourne) on Tuesday the 25th of June 2019. Check out our full betting preview below.
WTA Tour 2019 | WTA Premier International
Nature Valley International (Eastbourne)
Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club, Eastbourne, United Kingdom- Outdoor Grass
Selected Round of 32 Matches – 25 June 2019
Jelena Ostapenko (6/10)
vs Sloane Stephens (23/20)
This should prove a fascinating encounter between two players searching to reclaim recent glories. Sloane Stephens’ recent engagement to Jozy Altidore perhaps distracted somewhat from her mini-resurgence during the clay-court campaign. She reached the semi-finals in Madrid prior to a decent quarter-final run at Roland Garros. The 2017 US Open Champion had a poor start to the year that was plagued by injury and inaction: many have criticized her work ethic over the years. But she should feel galvanized following a decent clay-court season. One thing working against her is this surface. Grass remains the only turf on which she is yet to claim a single’s title: a quarter-final run in 2013 is actually her best showing at Wimbledon. So this certainly appears to be a decent opportunity for an upset on the surface.
Jelena Ostapenko is an intriguing case. The 20-year-old Latvian has truly struggled to reach the giddy heights that saw her capture that unlikely Roland Garros title in 2017. She has endured a wretched campaign thus far, being eliminated in the opening round of tournaments on eight occasions. But the silver lining for the uber-aggressive Ostapenko is her grass-court potential. Though her major breakthrough came on clay, it was on grass where her skills were first made evident: she won the 2014 Girl’s title at Wimbledon. She also reached the semi-finals here last season. Ostapenko’s all-or-nothing approach can lead to devastating results on this surface. If she is able to eradicate some of those pesky unforced errors you can expect her to provide stern resistance to her American opponent.
This will actually only be the second meeting between these two Grand Slam Champions: Sloane Stephens won their only previous meeting on her preferred Miami hard-courts. I just fell that Ostapenko could have enough on a surface that has never proved overly favourable to Stephens.
Caroline Wozniacki (1/4)
vs Andrea Petkovic (51/20)
The travails of Caroline Wozniacki always make for fascinating viewing. The Danish former World Number One seemed to have exorcised all her Grand Slam demons with that maiden victory in Melbourne last year. Many expected her to finally emerge from the considerable shadow cast by Serena Williams. But it just hasn’t worked out that way. She has been a regular victim of the ‘shock’ early exit. She has battled with a litany of injury issues this year. In fact, prior to her straight sets victory over Kirsten Flipkens, you have to travel back to the Charleston Open for her last victory: she reached the final. Wozniacki – much like Halep – always provides that wondrous chance of a shock defeat for the punter. But Wozniacki has a brilliant record in this event, claiming the title in 2009 and winning once again last year. She also reached the final in 2017. So there is clearly a risk in going against the tide of history here.
German Andrea Petkovic is a venerated journeywoman with six WTA titles to her name. In many ways, you can look at her as the female equivalent of Phillip Kohlschreiber. Petkovic stood on the precipice of greatness in 2011, reaching the quarterfinals in three of the slams: she also went on to reach the French Open semi-final in 2014. But a huge series of injuries in 2012 took a toll on her career. She has battled to regain consistency in her career. But she did experience some decent results towards the end of last year. Most notable of that was a semi-final showing in Washington: she beat both Sloane Stephens and Belinda Bencic in the process. The German picked up a wonderful opening round victory over the dangerous Daria Kasatkina. She could be just the sort of hardened competitor who could surprise the mercurial Wozniacki.
These two are certainly not strangers to one another. This will be their seventh meeting, with Wozniacki dominating the head-to-head 5-1. Having said that, their last meeting came way back in 2015. Funnily enough, that meeting resulted in a comfortable Wozniacki victory her at Eastbourne. So clearly the signs point towards a Danish victory. But for anyone searching for the mythical early upset, Wozniacki always strikes me as a prime candidate and there could be some value here at 51/20.
Written by Damien Kayat for Hollywoodbets
