Ekaterina Alexandrova vs Aliaksandra Sasnovich Prediction & Betting Tips - Cleveland, USA, Qualifying

Prediction published on 22/08/2023, 05:04  by Devesh Jaganath | Modified on 23/08/2023 at 03:00 in Tennis Predictions

World number 22 Ekaterina Alexandrova will take on 90th-ranked Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the second round of the WTA Cleveland Open on Wednesday. The winner of this match will go on to face Xinyu Wang or Jasmine Paolini in the quarter-final. These two have met three times in the past with Alexandrova winning all of them. Two have been on hard courts and Alexandrova is yet to drop a set. This is their first meeting on this surface in four years. Alexandrova's recent hard cout form has been disappointing.  The Russian was knocked out in the opening round in Cincinnati last week by Sorana Cirstea, winning just two games in the match. However, she did look more settled in the first round here in Cleveland, beating Patricia Maria Tig in straight sets. Alexandrova's record for the year stands at 24-14 and 8-6 on hard courts. Her best hard-court result this year has been reaching the last eight in Miami.  

Meanwhile, qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich has had a difficult year. The Belarusian was knocked out in the first round in Cincinnati last week. She has now seen her world ranking drop from inside the top 30 at the start of the year to 90th at present. Sasnovich beat Ganna Poznikhirenko and Fernanda Contreras Gomez in her qualifying matches in this tournament. In the first round, she beat Emma Navarro in three sets after trailing 5-0 in the final set and faced a match point at one stage with six successive games won. The Belarusian's best performance this year also came on the grass in the Netherlands, where she reached the semi-final. She was beaten in that competition by none other than Alexandrova, who went on to win the tournament. That was the only time that Sasnovich got past the second round of any tournament this year. Her record stands at 18-19 and 10-10 on this surface.