WTA Finals 2022: Coco Gauff vs Daria Kasatkina preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (4) Coco Gauff vs (8) Daria Kasatkina.
Date: November 3, 2022.
Tournament: WTA Finals 2022.
Round: Round robin.
Venue: Dickies Arena, Fort Worth, United States.
Category: Year-ending championships.
Surface: Hardcourt.
Prize money: $5,000,000.
Match timing: Not before 7 pm local time, 8 pm ET, 12 am GMT and 5:30 am IST.
Live telecast: USA – Tennis Channel | UK – Amazon Prime Video.
Coco Gauff vs Daria Kasatkina preview
Coco Gauff and Daria Kasatkina are set to face off in the round-robin stage of the WTA Finals on Thursday.
Gauff's first match in the group stage was against Caroline Garcia. The teenager gained the upper hand in the very first game of the match as she secured a break of serve. However, she surrendered her lead in the following game for the score to be tied at 1-1.
Both players remained solid on serve over the next few games, but Gauff slipped up in the end as she got broken at 5-4 to lose the opening set. The American trailed 3-1 in the second set, but managed to get back on serve to make it 3-2. However, Garcia managed to secure another break of serve to go 4-2 up.
This proved to be the end of the road for Gauff as she was unable to claw her way back into the match, with Garcia winning 6-4, 6-3.
Kasatkina faced a familiar foe in the form of Iga Swiatek in her first group tie. The Russian went down an early break to trail 3-0. She came quite close to losing serve in the next game, but managed to eke out a hold to make it 3-1.
However, Kasatkina was unable to deal with Swiatek's brand of tennis and dropped serve once again to lose the first set. She fell behind 3-0 in the second set and didn't recover from the deficit as the World No. 1 defeated her 6-2, 6-3. This was the Russian's fifth consecutive loss to Swiatek this year, all in straight sets to boot.
Coco Gauff vs Daria Kasatkina head-to-head
Kasatkina leads Gauff 2-0 in the head-to-head. She won their previous encounter at the 2022 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in straight sets.
Coco Gauff vs Daria Kasatkina odds
All odds are sourced from BetMGM.
Coco Gauff vs Daria Kasatkina prediction
Gauff's hustle and defensive skills weren't enough to defeat Garcia, while Kasatkina was once again handed a beatdown by Swiatek. With the duo starting their WTA Finals on a losing note, winning this match is of utmost importance.
Kasatkina's serve has marginally improved and while it didn't help her against Swiatek, it could give her an edge against Gauff. She'll be feeling more confident given her winning record against the teenager.
Gauff's serving stats show there's plenty of room to improve as she won only 54% of her first-serve points in the previous match. Her forehand was once again a liability, but despite the obvious weakness in her game, she compensates for it with her competitive nature and never-say-die attitude on the court.
Gauff's record against her fellow top-10 players this season isn't that great, having won just three of her 12 matches against them. She's had a tough time against them, indicating that while she has made considerable progress this year, she's still lacking somewhere. She has the potential to put Kasatkina in a spot of bother, but the Russian should be able to overcome the challenge in the end.
Pick: Daria Kasatkina to win in three sets.
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