Yulia Putintseva vs Jule Niemeier Prediction & Betting Tips - Hamburg, Germany, Qualifying

Prediction published on 25/07/2023, 10:42  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 25/07/2023 at 21:00 in Tennis Predictions

Sixth seeded Yulia Putintseva bids to avoid becoming the fourth seed to lose in the clay court Hamburg European Open. Putintseva faces unseeded Julie Niemeier in round two with the winner up against unseeded opposition in the last eight. Even Tamara Korpatsch or qualifier Daria Saville will be their opponent. Putintseva started this tournament ranked 58th in the world which is 31 places below her career high achieved six years ago. This year has seen her as high as 42nd but also down at 60th place. The 28-year-old has won 13 of her 20 matches played on clay this year. This month has already seen her get to the last four in the Nordea Open and the second round of the Hungarian Grand Prix. The last 32 was reached at Roland Garros and the quarter final of a clay court tournament held in Morocco. Her only previous meeting with Niemeir saw her opponent win but that was played on a hard court. The first round of this European Open saw Putintseva beat qualifier Elsa Jacquemont in straight sets for the loss of only six games.

Julie Niemeier was given a wild card into this tournament. The German is ranked 106th in the current list which is 41 places lower than at the start of the year. This is her first event since losing in the second round at Wimbledon, though she did defeat French Open finalist Karolina Muchoa before that. The year began with a poor run of form on hard courts with seven out of nine matches lost. It didn't get that much better fo her on clay as with two losses before getting to the last 32 in Madrid, where she defeated Petra Kvitova. Her next three matches on clay were all lost. That poor run of form ended with a three-set win over fellow German wild card Ella Seidel who is ranked 309th. We go for Putintseva to get the victory here.