Tennis
2010-01-20 - Yanina Wickmayer vs Flavia Pennetta
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Tennis: Australia, Australian Open Women 2010
Wednesday, 20th January 2010 - Start 01:15 GMT
Preview
Yanina Wickmayer did not know if she was going to be given permission to take part in the first Grand Slam of the year after missing her third drug test at the end of last season. She was given a last minute reprieve by the Courts but this delay meant that the World Number 16 had to go through the qualification rounds here in Melbourne.
The new Belgian superstar was able to join her more illustrious compatriots, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin, in the main draw after easing through the last 2 Qualifiers for the loss of 1 game. However, she has already played a lot of tennis here in Melbourne having to come from behind in her first Qualifier and also in the 1st round here.
She did come into this tournament with the hot hand after winning the tournament in Auckland without dropping a set. That means she has started the season with 9 straight wins on the hard courts, a vast improvement on her 10-10 record from last season. However, she may have had a 10 win season on the hard courts, this was enough to reach the Semi Final of the US Open.
Flavia Pennetta is up to number 12 in the World and should feel a little aggrieved that she has landed this match so early in the tournament. The Italian came through her 1st round in 3 sets against another tough draw in Anna Chakvetadze.
Pennetta has played in 2 tournaments to get into shape for this Grand Slam event and was the Runner Up in Auckland, losing to Wickmayer, and also 2 matches in Sydney. She has started the season well after helping the Italians win the Fed Cup against the USA at the end of last year.
The Italian did have a strong year overall last season and was an impressive 27-11 on the hard courts but most of this success occured during the Summer swing in the USA. Pennetta reached the 3rd round here in Australia last year.
Head to Head
These two players have met twice within the last 4 months. Yanina Wickmayer leads the series 2-0, including a straight sets win 2 weeks ago in Auckland.
In fact, Flavia Pennetta is yet to win a set against her younger rival.
Prediction
The scare suffered by Wickmayer in the last round will surely help her focus on the task in hand, but there is a slight concern that she has already played a lot of tennis here having been forced into the Qualifiers.
Flavia Pennetta is a solid player and performs well on the hard courts but her game does not match up that well against Wickmayer who has the heavier groundstrokes.
I think there is still value in playing Yanina Wickmayer to win and I think she may do so again in straight sets.
Yanina Wickmayer 6-3, 6-4
The Pick :
Yanina Wickmayer 6-3, 6-4
BEST BETTING TIP :
Yanina Wickmayer WIN @ 2.0
