Karolina Pliskova vs Garbiñe Muguruza Prediction & Betting Tips - Abu Dhabi Open

Prediction published on 05/02/2023, 13:12  by Kennedy Kechula in Tennis Predictions

World number 20 Karolina Pliskova and wild card Garbine Muguruza will face off in the first round of this year’s Abu Dhabi Open on Monday on an outdoor hard court. The winner will proceed to the second round to face third seed Elena Rybakina. Pliskova and Muguruza, both former world number ones, have played each other 11 times before with Pliskova claiming victory nine times. The Czech number two comes into the WTA 500 tournament after reaching the quarter-finals of the Australian Open. In Melbourne, she won her first four matches in straight sets before her elimination by Magda Linette. Abu Dhabi will be her fourth tournament in 2023 as she also participated in Adelaide 1 and 2. A two-time Grand Slam finalist, Pliskova saw her form dip in 2022 after a wrist injury, resulting in her dropping out of the top 10 and finishing the year in 31st place.

Just like Pliskova, Garbine Muguruza had a significant dip in form in 2022 and plummeted from the top three to finish the year as world number 55. Her efforts to put to a halt this downward spiral haven’t been effective as she has lost all four of her matches in 2023 to fall further down to 83rd in the live ranking. The two-time Grand Slam champion lost 2-0 to 18-year-old Linda Noskova in the first round of the Lyon Open, having entered the tournament on a wildcard. She was eliminated for the first time in her career in the first round of the Australian Open by Elise Mertens in three sets. At both Adelaide tournaments, she was also defeated in the first round having entered both tournaments on a wildcard.