Bad Homburg Open 2024: Yulia Putintseva vs Peyton Stearns preview, head-to-head, prediction and pick
Match Details
Fixture: Yulia Putintseva vs Peyton Stearns
Date: Tuesday, June 25
Tournament: Bad Homburg Open 2024
Round: First Round (Round of 32)
Venue: Bad Homburg, Germany
Category: WTA 500
Surface: Grass
Prize Money: $923,000
Live Telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Tennis Channel, BBC TV
Yulia Putintseva vs Peyton Stearns preview
Recent grass court title-winner Yulia Putintseva will shift her focus to the 2024 Bad Homburg Open, taking on the talented youngster Peyton Stearns in the opening round on Tuesday.
Putintseva lifted her first trophy on the grass at the Birmingham Classic, taking out the likes of Ajla Tomljanovic, Elisabetta Cocciaretto and Anhelina Kalinina en route to the summit.
The run has helped the Kazakh improve her season’s win-loss record to an impressive 28-15 and she will look to keep the winning run going in Germany.
Stearns, meanwhile, will play her first match on grass this season at Bad Homburg. The youngster had her breakthrough season last year and has managed to carry the momentum into 2024.
Stearns lifted her maiden title at the Morocco Open and reached the third round at the French Open, her last stop before arriving for the Bad Homburg Open. Her exposure to grass has been limited, but she does possess the weapons to win big on the quick courts.
Yulia Putintseva vs Peyton Stearns head-to-head
Putintseva and Stearns have never crossed paths on the Tour, so their current head-to-head stands at a 0-0 deadlock.
Yulia Putintseva vs Peyton Stearns odds
(Odds to be updated once available.)
Yulia Putintseva vs Peyton Stearns prediction
Yulia Putintseva’s dogged game is best suited for clay, but she has time and again shown how a player can age well on the grass.
Bounds of experience have helped the Kazakh post the occasional big result on the surface. She had taken out Naomi Osaka at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships when the latter was seeded second. Her title in Birmingham is just a reminder of what she is capable of doing irrespective of the surface.
Throughout her week in Birmingham, she was very effective on the return - winning a whopping 50%-plus points even when returning the first serve in multiple matches.
Peyton Stearns is a fighter and her numerous three-set matches this season have shown that. She can hit big and is unlikely to go down without a fight, but her inexperience and unfamiliarity on the surface may come back to cost her against an in-form Putintseva.
Pick: Putintseva to win in three sets.