's-Hertogenbosch 2023: Veronika Kudermetova vs Carol Zhao preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick | Libema Open
Match Details
Fixture: (1) Veronika Kudermetova vs (Q) Carol Zhao.
Date: June 14, 2023.
Round: Second Round.
Tournament: Libema Open 2023.
Venue: 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.
Category: WTA 250.
Surface: Grass.
Prize money: €259,303.
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | Canada - TSN | UK - Amazon Prime Video | India - Discovery.
Veronika Kudermetova vs Carol Zhao preview
Top seed Veronika Kudermetova will take on qualifier Carol Zhao in the second round of the 2023 Libema Open.
Kudermetova commenced her campaign here against former top 20 player Alison Riske-Amritraj. The pair started the match on a wobbly note as they traded service breaks, but found their footing soon enough.
After being evenly matched over the next few games, Kudermetova nabbed the last three games of the set to clinch the opener. She then quickly jumped to a 3-0 lead in the second set. Riske-Amritraj was unable to continue after this due to an injury, sending the Russian into the next round with a 6-3, 3-0 score in her favor.
Zhao, meanwhile, defeated Lexie Stevens and Kristina Dimitruk to make it to the main draw and faced Ysaline Bonaventure in the first round. The Canadian lost her serve to trail 5-4 in the opening set, but broke back immediately to level the score.
Zhao took the set into a tie-break, in which she gained the upper hand to claim the set. She then fell behind 4-2 in the second set, but bagged the next three games to go 5-4 up. The Canadian served for the match, but was unable to wrap up the proceedings as Bonaventure broke her serve.
A tie-break came into force soon enough. Zhao trailed 3-1 in it, but turned things around quickly. She won six of the next seven points to win the match 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4) and recorded just her second main-draw victory of the season.
Veronika Kudermetova vs Carol Zhao head-to-head
This will be the first meeting between them, so the head-to-head stands at 0-0 for now.
Veronika Kudermetova vs Carol Zhao odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Veronika Kudermetova vs Carol Zhao prediction
Kudermetova was fully in control of her first round contest when Riske-Amritraj was forced to retire. The World No. 14 won a massive 88% of her first serve points and went 4/11 on break points.
Zhao, meanwhile, did well enough to weather a tough challenge from Bonaventure. She found herself on the backfoot from time to time as a result of her misfiring serve, throwing in 10 double faults. However, she was able to counter her missteps with some inspired play.
Kudermetova is a two-time semifinalist at the venue and is far more experienced than Zhao. The latter is yet to make a dent on the WTA tour with her results and is easily outplayed by higher-ranked opponents.
The Russian is susceptible to surprise losses at times, but this is a match-up in which she shouldn't struggle too much.
Pick: Veronika Kudermetova to win in straight sets.