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Match Details
Fixture: (2) Petra Kvitova vs Yulia Putintseva
Date: September 27, 2023
Tournament: Ningbo Open 2023
Round: Second round (Round of 16)
Venue: Yinzhou Tennis Center, Ningbo, China
Category: WTA 250
Surface: Hard
Prize money: $259,303
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime
Petra Kvitova vs Yulia Putintseva preview
Two-time Major champions Petra Kvitova will square off against Yulia Putintseva in the second round of the 2023 Ningbo Open.
Kvitova took on qualifier Anna-Lena Friedsam in her opener. The Czech quickly raced to a 5-1 lead, but failed to serve out the set twice after that as her opponent clawed her way back into the set.
Kvitova then snagged another break to go 6-5 up, but was unable to close out the set once again as a tie-break came into the picture. She gained the upper hand in it to finally claim the first set. The Czech cruised through the second set as she dished out a breadstick to Friedsam to win the match 7-6 (2), 6-1.
Putintseva faced Daria Saville in the first round. The Kazakh fell behind 3-1 in the opening set, but flipped the script to take a 5-3 lead. While she stumbled while trying to serve out the set at this point, she broke her opponent's serve in the next game to clinch the set.
The second set was pretty routine, with Putintseva racing through it in no time. She dropped just one game in it to kickstart her campaign in Ningbo with a 6-4, 6-1 victory.
Petra Kvitova vs Yulia Putintseva head-to-head
Kvitova leads Putintseva 3-0 in the head-to-head. She won their previous encounter at the 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships in straight sets.
Petra Kvitova vs Yulia Putintseva odds
(Odds will be added once they're available)
Petra Kvitova vs Yulia Putintseva prediction
Kvitova's dominant start in the previous round went sideways pretty quickly, but she regrouped in the nick of time to capture the first set. She then played much more decisively for the rest of the match.
The Czech's serve put her in a spot of bother quite often as she coughed up eight double faults and won 48% of her second serve points. Kvitova also committed a fair few errors from the back of the court, but reined them in as the match went on.
Putintseva made the semifinals in Guangzhou last week and continued her good run of form with a win over Saville here, albeit with a few twist and turns. She'll now try to do something which she hasn't done before, defeat Kvitova.
The former Wimbledon champion boasts of a perfect winning record against Putintseva. When the two crossed paths earlier this year in Dubai, Kvitova didn't drop her serve even once as she fended off all six break points that she faced.
Kvitova will be eyeing a deep run here to boost her chances of qualifying for the WTA Finals. With her form this season and her one-sided rivalry with Putintseva, she should be able to make it past this round.
Pick: Petra Kvitova to win in straight sets.
