Bad Homburg Open 2021: Victoria Azarenka vs Alize Cornet preview, head-to-head & prediction
Match details
Fixture: (2) Victoria Azarenka vs Alize Cornet
Date: 23 June 2021
Tournament: Bad Homburg Open 2021
Round: Second round (Round of 16)
Venue: Bad Homburg, Germany
Category: WTA 250
Surface: Grass
Prize money: $235,238
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video
Victoria Azarenka vs Alize Cornet preview
Victoria Azarenka will lock horns with familiar foe Alize Cornet in the second round of the Bad Homburg Open on Wednesday.
While Azarenka won her opener in straight sets after surviving a scare from compatriot Yuliya Hatouka, Cornet pulled off a three-set win over Dutchwoman Arantxa Rus.
Both women are coming off semi-final finishes in Berlin and will be hoping to cap off their Wimbledon preparations with a deep run in the German city.
Azarenka is a two-time Wimbledon semifinalist but has struggled to find her footing on grass in the past few years. She will be hoping to change that this time around.
Alize Cornet, meanwhile, has never made it past the fourth round of a Grand Slam. She has, however, been known to cause upsets throughout her career.
The Frenchwoman will hope that she can carry her recent momentum into Wimbledon, where she hasn't been beyond the first round since 2016.
Victoria Azarenka vs Alize Cornet head-to-head
Victoria Azarenka has beaten Alize Cornet in each of their seven career meetings, so their head-to-head stands at 7-0 in favor of the Belarusian.
Their most recent meeting in Cincinnati last year ended in a straight-sets victory for Azarenka.
Victoria Azarenka vs Alize Cornet prediction
Both women possess solid groundstrokes so we can expect a ton of long baseline exchanges with a large number of winners and plenty of unforced errors.
Both players have served well in recent matches, consistently winning around 70% of first-serve points. Thus this match could well be decided by fine margins.
Alize Cornet is well-versed with the art of causing upsets and will look to claim another major scalp. The World No. 56, however, is prone to lapses during matches and any dip in her level against the former World No. 1 could prove costly.
The Belarusian has never lost to Cornet, and we expect her to keep that streak alive with another win against the Frenchwoman on Wednesday.
Prediction: Victoria Azarenka to win in three sets.