Pliskova vs. Muguruza
Karolina Pliskova continues her quest for a second consecutive title at the Western & Southern Open. As we mentioned in our WTA Cincinnati quarter-finals analysis, Pliskova proved too strong for Caroline Wozniacki with an impressive 6 – 2 6 – 4 win. Besides not dropping a single service game in the previous round against the Dane, the world no.1 only lost one point with her first serve throughout the entire match.
At the age of 23, Garbine Muguruza is going through a great moment in her career. Besides winning her second Major trophy in Wimbledon, the Spaniard won 71.15% of the matches played in 2017. Nevertheless, Garbine’s career record in the U.S. is far from impressive with the two-time Grand Slam champion winning only 59.49% of the matches in North-America. On the other hand, Muguruza was on the brink of elimination in the previous two matches against Madison Keys and Svetlana Kuznetsova. Despite her successful campaign in Cincinnati, the world no.6 only won 71.05% of her service games at the Western & Southern Open.
This will be the 8th career meeting between these two players with Pliskova leading on the h2h by 6 – 1.
As the h2h suggests, Pliskova is a terrible match-up for Muguruza. In addition to her dominant lead on their previous encounters, the 25-year-old Czech crushed Garbine at the 2016 Western & Southern Open semi-finals by 6 – 1 6 – 3. With this in mind, our suggestion is for you to place a bet on the world no.1 at 13/20 at 5Dimes while BetVictor offers 3/2 for Muguruza’s victory.
Best Play: Karolina Pliskova ML at 13/20 at 5Dimes
Stephens vs. Halep
The former world no.11 – Sloane Stephens – continues her impressive run in North-America. After reaching the Rogers Cup semi-finals, Stephens is once again just one win away from reaching a WTA Premier final in Cincinnati. Due to last Thursday’s rain delay, the 24-year-old American had to play two matches this Friday against Ekaterina Makarova and Julia Goerges. Despite her impressive performances, it won’t be easy for Sloane to be at her best physical condition for this contest after spending more than three hours on court yesterday.
Simona Halep is just two wins away from becoming the new world no.1. Known as one of the best counter punchers in the game, Simona could become the 8th player in tennis history to reach the WTA ranking leadership without winning any Grand Slam title. Taking a look now at Simona’s campaign on this event, the 25-year-old Romanian reaches this stage of the competition after a 6 – 4 7 – 6 victory against Johanna Konta.
These two players will face each other for the 7th time in their careers with Halep winning 66.67% of their previous six meetings.
In addition to Simona’s lead on the h2h, the Romanian emerge victorious from their last encounter at the Citi Open in Washington two weeks ago. Despite Sloane’s improvements since that contest, it won’t be easy for the American to overcome Halep’s exceptional defence. Having said that, Simona is the clear favourite to win this match at 43/100 at 5Dimes while Stephens is available at 2/1 at Bet365. Due to the low price on the Romanian’s moneyline, our advice is for you to take advantage of her -3.5 game handicap at 83/100 at Pinnacle.
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