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[Tennis- WTA Charleston 2] 7.4/ 23:00 S.Stephens- M.Keys

Posted: 07 Apr 2021 12:43
by Radu
[Tennis- WTA Charleston 2] 7.4/ 23:00 S.Stephens- M.Keys

Both player are having rough 2021 starts and are looking at this tournament to get ahead of the clay season. SS has a rather accomplished clay court resume: 2019 Roland Garros quarterfinalist, 2019 Madrid semifinalist, 2018 Roland Garros finalist, 2016 Charleston Champion. Madison Keys is the defending champion of this tournament from 2019 (last year's event was cancelled because of the Rona). SS leads the H2H matchup at 3-1 with 1-1 on clay. These two are best friends, so there is a slight awkwardness and nervousness when playing. This seemed to weigh more on Keys as evident from the 2017 US Open finals where she crumbled 3-6 0-6 due to nerves and low confidence. I do not think she is over this loss. Lately, her 2021 progress has not been stellar at 2-3 after not being able to compete at the Australian Open because of catching COVID. Afterwards, she had losing in straight sets in early rounds to players she has beaten in the past or heavily favorited at Qatar, Dubai, and Miami. She is a rhythm power baseliner that can win easy points on serve; however, her confidence drops when her power game does not succeed early. SS's counterpunching, patience, and variety heavily counters Keys' game especially on clay where points are based more on construction rather than power. Keys' big serving weapon will be neutralized on this surface, thus challenging her patience and MO to win points early, which may not work most of the time on clay. I would favor SS on the rallies longer than 5 shots.

1 @2,00 Bet365

6:4 6:4