Canadian Open 2023: Maria Sakkari vs Danielle Collins preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds, and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (8) Maria Sakkari vs (Q) Danielle Collins
Date: August 9, 2023
Tournament: Canadian Open 2023
Round: Second round (Round of 32)
Venue: Montreal, Canada
Category: WTA 1000
Surface: Hard
Prize money: $2,788,468
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | Canada - Sportsnet, TVA Sports | UK - Amazon Prime Video
Maria Sakkari vs Danielle Collins preview
After a first-round bye, World No. 8 Maria Sakkari will face off against qualifier Danielle Collins in the second round of the 2023 Canadian Open on Wednesday.
Sakkari has underperformed at the Grand Slam level this season, failing to get past the opening hurdles at the French Open and Wimbledon. A third round showing at the Australian Open has been her best result at the Majors this year.
Sakkari has been relatively consistent across other tournaments. She helped Greece reach the semifinals of the inaugural edition of the United Cup. The 28-year-old also made the last four in Linz, Doha, Indian Wells, Madrid, and Berlin.
After falling at the semifinal hurdle six times this season, Sakkari finally reached her first final of the year at last week's Citi Open. She defeated Leylah Fernandez, Madison Keys, and Jessica Pegula before losing to Coco Gauff in the title round.
Collins, a finalist at the 2022 Australian Open, had to go through the qualifiers here. She knocked out Eugenie Bouchard and Emina Bektas to set up a first-round contest against the in-form Elina Svitolina.
Collins made light work of Svitolina, breaking the Ukrainian's serve twice in each set to win the match 6-2, 6-2. It marked her first straight-sets win this week, as she needed three sets to win both of her qualifying round matches.
Maria Sakkari vs Danielle Collins head-to-head
Sakkari leads Collins 2-0 in the head-to-head. She won their previous encounter at the 2022 Guadalajara Open in three sets.
Maria Sakkari vs Danielle Collins odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Maria Sakkari vs Danielle Collins prediction
After a string of underwhelming results and poor form, Collins played one of her best matches of the season to oust Svitolina. The American was in control of the match from start to finish. She didn't drop her serve even once and struck 16 winners against 12 unforced errors.
Sakkari had a pretty good run at the Citi Open in Washington. While she came up short in the final, she defeated some quality players to reach the championship round. Both of her previous encounters against Collins have played out in a similar fashion.
Sakkari lost the first set before staging a comeback to win the match in three sets. Collins hits her shots with a ton of firepower but occasionally goes overboard. However, when the American is completely focused, as she was in the previous round here, she rarely misses her mark.
Sakkari's game is a bit more consistent, which has helped her edge past Collins so far. This could be another close battle between them, with the Greek once again being favored to come out on top.
Pick: Maria Sakkari to win in three sets.