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Match Details
Fixture: (1) Iga Swiatek vs Karolina Pliskova
Date: August 9, 2023
Tournament: Canadian Open 2023
Round: Second round (Round of 32)
Venue: Montreal, Canada
Category: WTA 1000
Surface: Hard
Prize money: $2,788,468
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | Canada - Sportsnet, TVA Sports | UK - Amazon Prime Video
Iga Swiatek vs Karolina Pliskova preview
Top seed Iga Swiatek will face off against former World No. 1 Karolina Pliskova in the second round of the 2023 Canadian Open on Wednesday (August 9).
A loss to Jessica Pegula in the semifinals of the United Cup ended Swiatek's campaign in the tournament. She then fell to Elena Rybakina in the fourth round of the Australian Open.
Swiatek avenged her loss to Pegula by defeating her in the final of the Qatar Open. However, she failed to do the same against Rybakina at Indian Wells, going down to her in the semifinals to conclude her title defense. An injury then ruled her out of the Miami Open, where was the defending champion.
Swiatek defended her title in Stuttgart to kick off her clay swing. She also reached the final in Madrid, but lost to Aryna Sabalenka. Rybakina proved to be her nemesis once again, as she almost defeated her at the Italian Open before the World No. 1 retired in the third set due to an injury.
Swiatek then successfully defended her French Open title and reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon. She then bagged her fourth title of the season at the Poland Open. As the top seed in Montreal, she has received a bye into the second round.
Pliskova, meanwhile, took on World No. 36 Zhu Lin in the first round here. Despite some resistance from her opponent, a single break of serve proved to be sufficient for the Czech to nab the first set.
The second set went to a tie-break, in which Pliskova wasted a match point before the play was halted due to rain. Lin managed to take the set upon resumption of play. The Czech shook off the disappointment to come out on top in the third set to win the match 6-3, 6-7(8), 6-2.
Iga Swiatek vs Karolina Pliskova head-to-head
Swiatek leads Pliskova 2-0 in the head-to-head. She won their previous encounter at the 2023 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in three sets.
Iga Swiatek vs Karolina Pliskova odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Iga Swiatek vs Karolina Pliskova prediction
Pliskova overcame a second-set stumble to defeat Lin. Her serve held up quite well as she fired 11 aces and won 72% of her first-serve points. It was a much-needed victory for the Czech, who has now won just two of her last nine matches. A couple of those losses were also against players ranked outside the top-200 too.
Pliskova's once-reliable serve has now become a bit inconsistent. Court coverage was never her strongest suit and she has declined even further in that aspect. She'll need to be dialled in right from the start against Swiatek, or could be on the receiving end of a 6-0, 6-0 beatdown, when they faced off in Rome in 2021.
Swiatek is fresh off of a title in her native Poland and once she gets going, it's difficult to stop her. She has the most wins on the WTA tour this season, with a 47-7 record. The World No. 1 has all the tools in her arsenal to dispose off Pliskova and should make it to the next round with ease.
Pick: Iga Swiatek to win in straight sets.
