Karolina Muchova vs Aryna Sabalenka Prediction & Betting Tips - Cincinnati, USA

Prediction published on 19/08/2023, 05:00  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 19/08/2023 at 06:10 in Tennis Predictions

Second seeded Aryna Sabalenka bids to reach her first Western & Southern Open final. Two previous semi-finals have been lost in Cincinatti, now she takes on unseeded Karolina Muchova for a place in the final of this outdoor hard court tournament. The winner will face either top seeded Iga Swiatek or seventh seed Coco Gauff. Sabalenka can't overtake Swiatek to become world number one even if winning this tournament. However she does remain top of the Live WTA Race. 2023 has seen her win three titles  and a win over Muchova will take her into her sixth final of the year. Two of her titles have come on hard courts, the Australian Open and Indian Wells. This tournament has seen her get to the last four for the loss of only one set. That was the first played against Ann Li. Since then six sets have been won and wins have come against 14th seeded Daria Kasatkina and fifth seed Ons Jabeur. Sabalenka is 1-1 in previous meetings with Muchova and lost to her in this year's Roland Garros semi-final. Her only win was on a hard court but that was four years ago.

Karolina Muchova is unseede but began this tournament ranked 17th in the world. Her run to this semi-final has taken her up to 13th and reaching the final will see her climb to tenth place. Before this year, Muchova had never made it past the third round in Cincinnati. It's gone much better for her in 2023 with two seeds being knocked out. Beatriz Haddad Maia was beaten in the first round (after dropping the first set) and then eighth seeded Maria Sakkari was beaten in three sets in her third match of the week. Her quarter final was a short lived affair indeed. The French Open runner-up won the first three games against Marie Bouzkova and then her opponent retired. A tougher assignment is on the horizon here and we go for Sabalenka to get the victory.