Yafan Wang vs Victoria Azarenka Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Washington Citi Open

Prediction published on 31/07/2024, 05:05  by Ian John | Modified on 15/08/2024 at 05:40 in Tennis Predictions

Yafan Wang will take on Victoria Azarenka in a second-round match at the Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington. It will be the first time the two players have met in their careers thus far, and reviewing the data for our prediction clearly indicates who will take the win here.

Unfortunately for the unseeded Yafan Wang, the evidence does not suggest she will be the victor. The Chinese player has won just two of her last seven matches. Her most recent victory was a three-set win over Karolina Pliskova at this tournament. 

Wang will be pleased to be back on the hard courts, where she has won 66% of the 42 matches she has played on the surface this calendar year. She reached the semi-finals in Hua-Hin and Charleston earlier this year and the quarter-finals in Austin. However, she has struggled on both clay and grass in recent months.

In contrast, her experienced opponent, Victoria Azarenka, is enjoying a late-career renaissance. The former world number 1 reached the quarter-final stage, or better, in six tournaments in 2024, although she has yet to convert that consistency into a final appearance or tournament win. 

She has won 14 of her last 20 matches on grass, clay, and hard courts. Even in the matches she has lost, they have usually been narrow defeats in three sets, with the final set going the full distance to decide the winner.

She was pushed hard in the first round here, defeating qualifier Hailey Baptiste in two sets, but both were via a tie-break. 

The victor will face either top seed Aryna Sabalenka or qualifier Kamilla Rakhimova in the quarter-final on Friday.