Other than the rain delays, we’ve had a great week of tennis here at the Charleston Open. Once again, matches were delayed due to weather, but the tournament will attempt to get as many matches in as possible to get back on schedule today. Let’s take a look at today’s matches to find the winning WTA pick.
Karolina Pliskova vs. Ekaterina Alexandrova
Thursday, April 07, 2022 – 07:00 PM EDT at Volvo Car Stadium
Ekaterina Alexandrova
After a tumultuous start to the year, Ekaterina Alexandrova has found her form here on the green clay of Charleston. Alexandrova playing her best on clay has been a tad bit unexpected, as Alexandrova usually prefers the quickest court possible. Her best results have come on indoor hard courts. Success on Friday would be a sign of Alexandrova's maturation.
Alexandrova has the power game down, she just needs to work on employing different tactics, especially from the baseline in a defensive position. The ability to switch gears in order to use strategies to beat her opponent is the last little touch Alexandrova needs to add to her game to make it into the WTA top 20.
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Ekaterina Alexandrova opened her tournament here at Charleston with a win over Allie Kiick. Kiick has had problems competing at the WTA level for a while, so Alexandrova's 6-1, 6-1 victory came as no surprise to most observers. Her second match was against Qinwen Zheng. Alexandrova almost had the match completely won before Zheng retired down 5-2 in the third set.
Alexandrova survived 19 aces from Zheng. Zheng was going for aces on most of her serves because she also had 12 double faults against Alexandrova. Alexandrova was clutch when it counted, saving 70% (7-10) of the breakpoints she faced. Alexandrova has a hold/break percentage of 101.1% on the year.
Karolina Pliskova
Karolina Pliskova was injured to end the 2021 season and opened the 2022 season with a whimper. Pliskova was not healthy or in form during the Sunshine Double. She lost both of her opening-round matches. Pliskova hopes to work her way back into form against weaker players such as her first-round opponent at this tournament, Katarina Zavatska.
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Still, Pliskova was not impressive against the world number 215. It took her three sets to overcome the 22-year-old Ukrainian who is still adjusting to life on the WTA tour. It is good for Pliskova to have to struggle and figure out an opponent. This will help her to work her way back into form.
The close match against Zavatska shows that Pliskova is not yet ready to beat the WTA's best. Pliskova needs more practice and match play before she can return to her old top 10 form. Pliskova has a hold/break percentage of 95.1% on the year
Pliskova is often called the best player to never win a Grand Slam title. As new players flood onto the tour, the thirty-year-old Pliskova needs to make her move now if she's ever going to lift the Grand Slam trophy. Although she is not considered a clay player, this clay season gives her a great opportunity to work back into top form and have a chance to take down a title.
Has Pliskova's Grand Slam window closed? With the influx of young talented hitters on the tour that may be the case, but Pliskova is still holding out hope that she has one magical run left in her career.
Matchup
Karolina Pliskova and Ekaterina Alexandrova have played twice. Pliskova has won both times. The first time was in 2017 in Roland Garros and the second time was in 2019 in Eastbourne. Given that both of these matches were years ago and Pliskova’s current return from injury puts her at less than 100% effectiveness, I don't see any predictive value in looking at these previous matches.
As much as I enjoy Karolina Pliskova's personality and her power game, for today, I'm going to have to pick against her due to the expansive time off with an injury. She has not been the same player that had the great 2021 season. I am not counting her out for the year, but it's going to take some time for her to work her way back into the form that she was carrying last season.
Alexandrova is an erratic player but looks to be motivated and focused this week after a recent spate of losses. In the matchup of two players trying to use the Charleston Open to get their form back and momentum going forward, today's pick is the Ekaterina Alexandrova ML.
WTA Pick: Ekaterina Alexandrova ML (-125) at Bookmaker (visit our Bookmaker Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
