Karolina Pliskova vs Magda Linette Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Australian Open

Prediction published on 24/01/2023, 06:10  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 24/01/2023 at 11:00 in Tennis Predictions

It's another chaotic women's singles tournament with only one of the top 21 seeds remaining. Karolina Pliskova is the 30th seed and takes on unseeded Magda Linette in the quarter finals of the Australian Open. The winner of this match will face either fifth seeded Aryna Sabalenka or unseeded Donna Vekic in the semi-finals. Karoliina Pliskova is gradually making her way back up the rankings. The Czech was the world number one six years ago and was in the top ten until June of last year. This tournament began with her in 31st place but is up ten places in the live list. A win over Linette will see her rise to 14th place. Two warm-up tournaments were played by Pliskova with two wins and two defeats. It must have felt strange for the former world number one to be playing in the qualifiers of the Adelaide International. Pliskova made it to the first round but then lost to Danielle Collins. The Czech is in her fourth Australian Open quarter final. Only one of the previous three have been won but she then lost in the 2019 semi-final. The past two years have seen her lose in the third round. This is her second successive Grand Slam quarter final, having got to the last eight in New York so she's definitely back as a contender. So far in this tournament, wins have come against Xiyu Wang, Yulia Putintseva, Varvara Gracheva and Zhang Shuai with no sets dropped and two won by a 6-0 scoreline.

Magda Linette is in her first ever Grand Slam quarter final. The Polish player wouldn't have expected to get further in this Australian Open than her compatriot Iga Swiatek, who lost in the last 16. This tournament began with Linette ranked 45th but she's up to a career high 28th in the live rankings. Beating Pliskova would take her up to 22nd. Linette first played a Grand Slam event 12 years ago but this is the first time she's managed to get past the third round of one. This year began with her winning three out of four matches in the United Cup as Poland reached the semi-finals. Her only singles tournament was the Hobart International, losing in her first match to Alison Van Uytvanck. It's gone much better for her in this tournament with three seeds knocked out by the 30-year-old. Round two saw her come from behind to knock out tenth seeded Anett Kontaveit and that's been followed by wins over Ekaterina Alexandrova (seeded 19th) and then the fourth seed Caroline Garcia, both in straight sets. The Pole trails Pliskova 7-2 in previous meetings but Linette did win the last one played in 2022, ten years after her only other victory. Back Pliskova to get the win here.