St. Petersburg Trophy 2021: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Cagla Buyukakcay preview, head-to-head & prediction
Match details
Fixture: (5) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Cagla Buyukakcay
Date: 16 March 2021
Tournament: St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy 2021
Round: First round (Round of 32)
Venue: St. Petersburg, Russia
Category: WTA 500
Surface: Outdoor hardcourt
Prize money: $1,897,805
Match timing: Approx. 8.30 pm local time, 11 pm IST
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Cagla Buyukakcay preview
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova will open her campaign at the 2021 St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy against Turkish lucky loser Cagla Buyukakcay on Tuesday.
A former quarterfinalist at this event, Pavlyuchenkova will be hoping to get back into form after a slow start to the 2021 season. The Russian hasn't made the quarters even once in six events this year, and will aim to turn things around at her home tournament.
Buyukakcay, meanwhile, scored a hard-fought three-set win over Serbia's Jana Fett in the opening round of the qualifiers. She then went down to Wang Xinyu in the second, but was able to get into the main draw as a lucky loser.
The 31-year-old hasn't had the best of starts to 2021, and is still in pursuit of her first main-draw win. That is why she will be especially keen to make the best of her second opportunity here.
Buyukakcay has been on the tour for quite some time, and also has a WTA title to her name. Many of her big results have, however, come on clay — a surface where her counterpunching style works the best.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Cagla Buyukakcay head-to-head
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova leads Cagla Buyukakcay in the head-to-head by a 1-0 margin. The Russian needed three sets to get past her opponent in their only prior meeting, which came at the 2016 French Open.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Cagla Buyukakcay prediction
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has had tough draws in most of the tournaments she has played this season. The Russian has lost to as many as three 2021 title winners so far this year - Garbine Muguruza, Naomi Osaka and Petra Kvitova.
Seeded 5th at this tournament, Pavlyuchenkova has a couple of relatively easy opening rounds that would offer her the opportunity to rediscover her form. That said, she will need to be careful against an opponent like Cagla Buyukakcay, who has troubled her in the past.
Buyukakcay doesn't possess the most explosive game from the back of the court, but she has the kind of consistency that can often frustrate even the best of players. On Tuesday she will once again rely on her strengths and try to extract as many errors as she can from her opponent.
For Pavlyuchenkova, the key will be to play with controlled aggression. If she can patiently construct her points well, she should be able to come through this one.
Prediction: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to win in three sets.