As the clay season came to an end, players will be switching surfaces and start playing in grass courts. The tune up events to Wimbledon are underway and the players are getting familiar once again to the grass courts. The WTA BETT1Open has some interesting matches in the first round. Some big names will be making their debut and will try to start their grass campaign on the right foot. Here are the best WTA matches of the second day of action in Berlin.
Matches to Watch at the WTA BETT1OPEN in Berlin
Veronika Kudermetova vs Karolina Muchová
This will be their first encounter on the WTA circuit, and it promises to be a good match. Both players are playing some great tennis and will try to transition that to the grass courts. The Russian reached the second round of Wimbledon the last time it was played back in 2019. The Czech reached the quarterfinals and was eliminated by Elina Svitolina.
Neither lady went that far in the French Open, but will look to start in a winning fashion in Berlin. Each player has a different style of play, and we will see who’s will prevail in the end. Muchová has a better history on grass courts the Kudermetova has a chance to start playing better on grass this season with a win over the Czech player.
Garbiñe Muguruza vs Sorana Cirstea
Muguruza leads their head-to-head encounter with three wins and ero losses. Last time they met was in Doha back in 2018. The Spaniard is yet to drop a set against the Romanian and will look to continue that streak. These two have met on a grass court back in 2017 when they played in Wimbledon. As of late the Romanian has been playing well as she won a clay court tournament in Istanbul.
She made it to the fourth round of Roland Garros, which is decent, and was eliminated by the eventual semifinalist Tamara Zidanšek. The Spaniard is the favorite coming into this match despite not playing at her best on the clay court season. The former Wimbledon champion has a better history on grass than Cirstea and will try to avoid an early upset in the tournament.
Angelique Kerber vs Misaki Doi
Kerber and Doi have played five times and the German has won all of those five matches. Last time they met was in 2016 at Wimbledon. The Japanese player has only managed to take only two sets from the Kerber in those five matches. The German player is pretty good on grass and will look to start on the correct path on home soil.
Definitely Kerber looks like the heavy favorite to win the match.However, she has not been playing that well as of late. She has not been consistent with her game, and we will see if Doi can take advantage of that and stun Kerber to get her first win against the German.
Andrea Petkovic vs Victoria Azarenka
They have played each other three times with Azarenka winning two of those encounters. Their last match was in 2013 in Beijing. It has been a long time since then and both players have had plenty of ups and downs in their careers. Last Wimbledon Petkovic did not get passed the first round while Azarenka made it to the third round.
The Belarussian is the heavy favorite in this match up, but you cannot count out the German that easily. Petkovic will be playing at home and will have the support of the people in this match. That can be a big boost, but she will need an all-around solid performance against the former World No.1 if she wants to advance to the next round.
Main Photo from Getty.
