Daria Gavrilova vs Caroline Wozniacki Tennis Prediction
The former runner-up Wozniacki is expected to prevail over Gavrilova. They had met once, in February 2016 at Doha, when the Dane handed the Australian a straight set defeat (6-3 6-3).
Caroline Wozniacki News
Caroline Wozniacki had a concerning start to her clay season when she retired in the quarterfinal of Istanbul Cup citing an abdominal strain last month. It was her first tournament in a month after losing the opening round of Miami Open to Monica Puig in March.
The last time Wozniacki had a significant injury (ankle) she had to miss the 2016 clay season and fell to #74 in August of that year. Since then, the Dane has been enjoying a second career, which has given her big titles, such as the Australian Open and WTA Finals.
The former world #1 has appeared at Madrid every year (except 2016) since 2009. During her debut, she reached her first Premier Mandatory final, defeating Mauresmo and Dushevina. Her best result at the event since then is a quarterfinal in 2015 (l. Sharapova).
Daria Gavrilova News
Daria Gavrilova is also coming off a retirement loss (right Achilles injury), handing the Prague first round match to her compatriot Stosur in the deciding set. It was her second clay tournament of the season, after losing the second round of Charleston to Giorgi.
Gavrilova has struggled to be effective for the most part of this season. Apart from semifinals at Sydney (def. Stosur, w/o from Muguruza) and Acapulco (def. Zarazua, Brengle and Cepede Royg), she has failed to win more than one match in any other event.
Gavrilova made an impressive debut at Madrid in 2016, when she knocked out the defending champion Kvitova, along with Elina Svitolina and Heather Watson, to reach the quarterfinal, where she was given an unexpected defeat by the American qualifier Chirico.
Tennis Prediction: Caroline Wozniacki 2-0 SET
Odds: 1.77
