Tatjana María vs Varvara Gracheva Prediction & Betting Tips - Cleveland, USA, Qualifying

Prediction published on 20/08/2023, 08:57  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 22/08/2023 at 03:00 in Tennis Predictions

Tatjana Maria hopes to continue the good form she showed in Baranquilla last week. The German won the WTA 125 tournament and only lost 14 games in her five matches. No sets were dropped and two were won to love. Now the 36-year-old heads to Cleveland and faces Varvara Gracheva in the first round of the outdoor hard court Tennis in the Land tournament. The winner of this match faces either fifth seed Anhelina Kalinina or unseeded Ana Bogdan. Winning that title last week has seen Maria move up to 47th in the live rankings. That's just one place below her career high that was achieved six years ago. Maria had reached the last four in Warsaw in her previous event but that was on clay. Her previous best this year on hard courts was a quarter final appearance in the Thailand Open. Soon after that, Maria won an ITF clay court title.

Varvara Gracheva is 41st in the live rankings and like her opponent is only a place below her career high achieved earlier this month. Last week saw her get to the second round of the Western & Southern Open. The returning Caroline Wozniaki was beaten in the first round before Gracheva lost to 14th seeded Daria Kasatkina in round two, winning just four games. The ranking points earned there were an unexpected boost for Gracheva. The 23-year-old lost in the final qualifying round but was reinstated as a lucky loser. Now representing France, Gracheva has reached one final this year. That was in Austin, Texasn where she lost to Marta Kostyuk. Since then two last 16s in WTA 1000 events have been reached. Five of her last seven matches have been lost though. The one previous meeting between these two players was in the hard court tournament held in Merida in February with Gracheva winning in three sets. Maria looks to be in better form now and we believe she can get revenge for that loss.