Sorana Cirstea vs Katerina Siniakova Tennis Prediction
The pair met less than a year ago at Aegon International Eastbourne for the first time, where Cirstea knocked out Siniakova in straight sets (6-3 6-2) on grass. This time around, Siniakova is expected to return the favor, considering the Romanian’s form.
Katerina Siniakova News
Katerina Siniakova was at Prague a few days ago, where she reached the quarterfinals (l. eventual champion Kvitova) after defeating Russia’s Alexandrova and former #9 Andrea Petkovic to secure consecutive wins for the first time since February (St. Petersburg).
At the start of 2018, Siniakova was tasked to defend her first WTA title at Shenzhen. She defeated Sharapova and Kr. Pliskova, but fell short against Halep in the final (6-1 2-6 6-0). She also won a clay title last year, at Bastad (d. Wozniacki, Garcia and Sevastova).
Siniakova has been playing at Madrid for the last two years, and on both occasions, she ran into former world #1s in early rounds, Kerber in 2017 (l. 6-2 1-6 7-5, second round) and Ivanovic in 2016 (l. 6-3 3-6 6-4, first round as a qualifier).
Sorana Cirstea News
Sorana Cirstea has won less than half a dozen matches after playing in nine tournaments this season. The Romanian has not won a match since March, her last one ending with a 6-0 1-6 6-0 loss to Putintseva at Istanbul Cup, her first clay tournament of the year.
Cirstea has posted back-to-back quarterfinals at Madrid in the past two years. In 2016, she defeated former #1 Jankovic (l. Cibulkova), while last year, she met Pavlyuchenkova (d. 6-1 3-6 7-6) on her way to meet eventual finalist Mladenovic in the last eight.
Apart from quarterfinal points in Madrid, Cirstea is also defending Nuremberg semifinal points later this month, which she earned by defeating Putintseva, Niculescu, and Lepchenko.
Tennis Prediction: Sorana Cirstea
Odds: 2.40
