'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Match details
Fixture: (1) Karolina Pliskova vs Magdalena Frech
Date: 9 October 2021
Tournament: BNP Paribas Open
Round: Second round (Round of 64)
Venue: Indian Wells, USA
Category: WTA 1000
Surface: Hardcourt
Prize money: $8,761,725
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel & ESPN | UK - Amazon Prime Video
Karolina Pliskova vs Magdalena Frech preview
Top seed Karolina Pliskova will launch her bid for the BNP Paribas Open title against World No. 106 Magdalena Frech in the second round on Saturday.
The former World No. 1 has turned her season around in incredible fashion after a poor start. Since June, the Czech has made the finals at Wimbledon and Montreal, the semifinals at Cincinnati and the quarterfinals at the US Open.
However, a title has eluded her thus far. Pliskova will hope to live up to the billing as the top seed at Indian Wells and end her championship drought.
The Czech couldn't have asked for an easier opponent to start her campaign against. Magdalena Frech hasn't been able to make much of an impact on the WTA Tour so far, as evidenced by her career-high ranking of 106.
The 23-year-old has mainly plied her trade on the ITF circuit and lower level WTA tournaments. Her best results are titles at the ITF $60,000K event in Prague and the WTA 125 Thoreau Tennis Open.
The Pole won a couple of matches this week to qualify for the main draw of Indian Wells, and then defeated World No. 89 Saisai Zheng 6-1, 6-4 in the first round.
She will hope to draw confidence from that win as she gears up to face the World No. 3 in a tough second-round clash.
Karolina Pliskova vs Magdalena Frech head-to-head
Karolina Pliskova and Magdalena Frech have never squared off on the tour before, so their head-to-head currently stands at a 0-0 deadlock.
Karolina Pliskova vs Magdalena Frech prediction
Considering the gulf in the rankings between the two players, Karolina Pliskova is the heavy favorite to come through this contest. The Czech is in a rich vein of form and will be keen to keep the momentum going in the final WTA 1000 event of the year.
If Pliskova can get her serve firing, she will have a huge advantage over her Polish opponent. The Wimbledon runner-up has shown a new-found patience in constructing points and that should also stand her in good stead against Frech.
Frech, on her part, has an effective first serve but it is her return that could be an area of concern. She has fluffed tons of breakpoint chances in the three matches she has played so far at the BNP Paribas Open and such lapses against a powerful server like Pliskova will be costly.
All in all, Pliskova is the superior player and should have no trouble advancing to the next round.
Prediction: Karolina Pliskova to win in straight sets.
