Guadalajara Open 2022: Paula Badosa vs Victoria Azarenka preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (1) Paula Badosa vs Victoria Azarenka.
Date: October 18, 2022.
Tournament: Guadalajara Open 2022.
Round: Second round (Round of 32).
Venue: Panamerican Tennis Center, Guadalajara, Mexico.
Category: WTA 1000.
Surface: Hardcourt.
Prize money: $2,527,250.
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK – Amazon Prime Video.
Paula Badosa vs Victoria Azarenka preview
World No. 8 Paula Badosa will face off against two-time Major champion Victoria Azarenka in the second round of the 2022 Guadalajara Open on Wednesday.
Following a pretty good first half of the season, Badosa's results over the last few months leave a lot to be desired. Following a fourth-round appearance at Wimbledon and semifinals at the Silicon Valley Classic, it appeared as if the Spaniard was finding her form once again, but that wasn't the case.
Badosa left Canada and Cincinnati without winning a match and made a second-round exit from the US Open. She once again failed to score a win at the two WTA 500 events in Tokyo and Ostrava. At last week's San Diego Open, she received a bye into the second round, where scored a dominant win over Louisa Chirico, but lost to Danielle Collins afterwards.
As the top seed in Guadalajara, she received a first-round bye. Badosa needs a good result here to qualify for the WTA Finals.
Victoria Azarenka was initially set to face Zhang Shuai in the first round, but the Chinese player withdrew from the tournament after the draw was made and was replaced by lucky loser Elina Avanesyan.
While Avanesyan went toe-to-toe with Azarenka at the start of the opening set, the Belarusian gained the upper hand by securing a break of serve in the seventh game. The former World No. 1 held a set point on her opponent's serve later on, but failed to close out the set. Nevertheless, she served out the set in the following game with ease.
The second set started with five consecutive breaks of serve, with Azarenka coming out on top to lead 3-2. She consolidated her lead with a hold of serve to make it 4-2 and snagged another break to go 5-2 up. The Belarusian then stepped up to serve for the match.
Azarenka wasted a couple of match points, following which she needed to save a break point as well. She finally closed out the proceedings on her fourth match point to win 6-4, 6-2.
Paula Badosa vs Victoria Azarenka head-to-head
The two have split their previous couple of meetings evenly for the head-to-head to be tied at 1-1. Azarenka won their previous encounter at the 2022 Adelaide International in straight sets.
Paula Badosa vs Victoria Azarenka odds
All odds are sourced from BetMGM.
Paula Badosa vs Victoria Azarenka prediction
Azarenka was pretty solid during her first-round win over Avanesyan, finishing the match with 19 winners to 21 unforced errors. Given Badosa's poor string of results of late, she'll fancy her odds of winning against her. Their previous encounter took place in January this year, with the former World No. 1 barely breaking a sweat while dispatching the Spaniard.
During her loss to Collins in San Diego last week, Badosa's break point conversion rate was quite dismal, going 5/16 on them. She'll need to avoid a repeat of that and be more clutch when she has a shot at obtaining a lead.
Badosa played quite well in Guadalajara when the WTA Finals were hosted here last year. She knows how to handle the conditions and it might give her a fighting chance against the Belarusian.
Given their recent form, the contest could swing either way. Badosa has had a better season overall and with a spot in the WTA Finals on the line, she might be fired up to secure the win.
Pick: Paula Badosa to win in three sets.
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