Iga Swiatek’s clash with Paula Badosa on Monday won’t have any impact on either players fate in Guadalajara. Swiatek is already eliminated from the event after losing her first couple of matches, Badosa will finish on top of the Chichén Itzá group no matter what happens after winning her first couple of matches this week in straight sets. A dead rubber in some respects, but there are still ranking points and prize money on the line, as well as pride. Will Badosa continue her winning streak or can Swiatek end a disappointing tournament on a high?
WTA Finals Day 6 Predictions
Iga Swiatek vs Paula Badosa
H2H: Badosa 1-0
Iga Swiatek hasn’t had a successful WTA Finals debut. The Pole started the event with an uncompetitive straight set loss to Maria Sakkari before succumbing to Aryna Sabalenka in a tight three set clash. Swiatek definitely had her chances against Sabalenka and played much better than she did in her opening match, but it wasn’t quite enough to keep her Guadalajara campaign alive.
Defeating Paula Badosa is becoming a tough task. The Spaniard has now won eight matches in a row having arrived in Guadalajara fresh from winning the biggest title of her career in Indian Wells. Badosa is yet to put a foot wrong in her WTA Finals debut, starting with a 6-4 6-0 win over the top seeded Aryna Sabalenka where she won 10 consecutive games. The 23-year-old was given a much tougher test in her second match of the week and was up to the task, defeating Maria Sakkari 7-6 6-4 in just over two hours.
It was Paula Badosa who emerged victorious in the only previous meeting between the pair. A 6-3 7-6 victory at the Olympic Games earlier this year.
Badosa is clearly playing better tennis than Swiatek at the moment, that coupled with the fact she beat the Pole is their only previous meeting a few months ago make her the obvious choice here. These types of matches can play out strangely, the intensity probably won’t be the same as a usual match given both players don’t have too much to play for.. I’ll assume Badosa wants to keep her winning run going, if that’s the case she should be too solid for Swiatek in these conditions given their respective levels of tennis this week.
Prediction: Badosa in 2
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