Maria Sakkari vs Marketa Vondrousova Prediction & Betting Tips - Berlin Open

Prediction published on 22/06/2023, 17:05  by Devesh Jaganath | Modified on 23/06/2023 at 20:30 in Tennis Predictions

World number eight Maria Sakkari will take on 40th-ranked Marketa Vondrousova in the quarter-final of the 2023 Berlin Open on Friday. The winner of this match will face either Elina Avanesyan or Donna Vekic in the semi-final. Sakkari will be making her second consecutive quarter-final appearance here in Berlin after cruising past her opponents in the opening rounds. After losing to Alize Cornet in Nottingham last week, the Greek didn’t have to wait long for a chance at revenge as the two were drawn against each other in the first round here in Berlin. Sakkari made no mistake this time though, breaking Cornet early and powering home in straight sets. She put on an even better showing against Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the next round, losing just three games to the Bulgarian and wrapping up the match in 66 minutes. The Greek is now 23-12 for the year and 3-1 on the grass. Can she reach the semi-final this year in Berlin?

Meanwhile, Vondrousova has never been a huge fan of the grass, having played just four matches in 2021 and none last year. Her opening match against Bianca Andreescu proved to be a tough one as the Canadian came out all guns blazing, forcing a tiebreak in the first set and dropping her service just once in the second. However, the Czech showed her class to hold off the challenge and looked excellent in her second-round match against qualifier Jule Niemeier, beating the German 6-3 6-5 in just under 90 minutes. She has a positive record of 24-9 and has seen her world ranking improve significantly from outside the top 100 in March down to 40th at present. She’s still some way from her peak ranking of 14th, but a good run here in Berlin could see her get back inside the top 30 with Wimbledon approaching at pace.