Leylah Annie Fernandez vs Caroline Garcia Prediction & Betting Tips - Wimbledon Qualification, England

Prediction published on 05/07/2023, 12:00  by Devesh Jaganath | Modified on 06/07/2023 at 02:10 in Tennis Predictions

World number five Caroline Garcia will take on 82nd-ranked Leylah Fernandez in round two of the 2023 Wimbledon on Thursday. The winner of this match will face either Marie Bouzkova or Anett Kontaveit in the next round. These two have played each other twice this year, with Garcia winning both times, though those matches were on the hard court. Garcia has made a solid start on the grass this season, reaching back-to-back quarter-finals in Eastbourne and Berlin ahead of this competition. The Frenchwoman carried her form into her tournament opener against Katie Volynets, beating the American in straight sets. She did start the match fairly slowly, facing three break points but managed to save them all. However, halfway through the first set, she seemed to settle and improved as the match went on. Her record now stands at 28-14 for the year and 5-2 on the grass. Garcia will be strongly fancied to progress here. 

Meanwhile, Leylah Annie Fernandez has found it tough this season. The Canadian was ranked inside the top 15 in the world as recently as August last year. However, she has steadily fallen in the rankings, having failed to make it past the second round of any WTA tournament this year. Her only run of note came in an ITF competition, where she made the semi-final in May. Fernandez has never been a fan of the grasscourt; in fact, she has only played six matches on the surface in her career. Three of those matches came this year, and she has a record of 2-1. The Canadian needed nearly two and a half hours to overcome Kateryna Baindl in the first round after losing the second set in that match. She is now up against a much better opponent and won’t be much of a challenge if she delivers the same type of performance she did in the previous round.