With the second round set to get underway at the Brisbane International, the competition looks set to heat up in Queensland. But who will book their place in the quarterfinals at this crucial warm-up event for the Australian Open?
Brisbane International Day 3 Predictions
Barbora Strycova vs Alison Riske
Head-to-head: Strycova 2-0 Riske
This is certainly one of the more unusual head-to-head records as Barbora Strycova has only ever lost six games to Alison Riske. However, one of the matches was in 2011 and the other in 2017 so neither match is hugely informative to this second-round tie.
Strycova survived another battle with Jo Konta to make it through the first round. The Czech really took advantage of a poor serving day for the Briton, regularly making hay against Konta’s second delivery. Similarly, Riske got on top of Muchova’s second serve and was convincing behind her own delivery to set up a facile success for the American in the first round.
If Riske keeps up her serving level then her aggression could hold the key to this match-up. Strycova has clearly been able to pick her off in the past, but Riske was ranked much lower then. The American has definitely developed her game from being a mainly grass-court specialist. Expect her to win this match in straight sets.
Prediction: Riske in 2
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Danielle Collins vs Yulia Putintseva
Head-to-head: Putintseva 1-0 Collins
This match will be Yulia Putintseva’s fifth match in Brisbane and that level of familiarity with the event should help her in this match-up. Danielle Collins, meanwhile, produced an incredible display to thrash fourth seed Elina Svitolina 6-1 6-1 in the first round. Svitolina only won 37% of points on her first serve, demonstrating just how dialled in Collins was when returning. That win marked another standout result for the former-NCAA champion, who last year reached the semifinals in Melbourne.
The previous match between the pair resulted in a retirement from Collins after five games so is not particularly relevant to this match. What will be relevant, and where the match will be decided, is whether Putintseva can produce her usual level when returning. Over the last twelve months, Putintseva has a much better returning record than Collins and that could prove to be the key difference between the players. The American may also suffer from a let down following her massive win. This could be very close, but expect the Kazakh to emerge victorious in three.
Prediction: Putintseva in 3
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Samantha Stosur vs Madison Keys
Head-to-head: Stosur 3-0 Keys
Though Madison Keys will be the favourite for this match they have an interesting head-to-head record with Keys having never beaten the veteran Aussie. However, it should be noted that two of Samantha Stosur’s came in 2013 when Keys was making her way on the tour as a 17-year-old. Nonetheless, for Stosur to win in 2019 on a hard court was a surprise and may put some doubts in Keys’ mind ahead of this encounter.
Stosur showed her famous competitive spirit to edge two tiebreaks against Angelique Kerber in the first round. It was a good serving performance from the Australian, who enjoyed a high first-serve percentage and won the majority of the points in which she landed her first delivery. But even those numbers pale in comparison with Keys’ efforts against Marie Bouzkova. In that match, Keys made 70% of her first serves, winning 81% of those points. That gave the young Czech very little chance of getting into their first-round match, with Keys recording a comprehensive 6-3 6-2 win.
Keys should dominate on her own service games in this match. Indeed, there may well be at least one tiebreak in this match with both players serving well. The American seems to be ready to play straight away this season and it would be a surprise if she can’t break this head-to-head record against Stosur, but don’t expect her to have it all her own way.
Prediction: Keys in 3
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