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Match details
Fixture: Anett Kontaveit vs Caroline Garcia
Date: 15 September 2020
Tournament: Italian Open 2020
Round: First Round (Round of 64)
Venue: Rome, Italy
Category: WTA Premier 5
Surface: Red clay
Prize money: €1,771,082
Match timing: 2.30 pm CEST, 6 pm IST
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel / ESPN
Anett Kontaveit vs Caroline Garcia preview
Former World No. 4 Caroline Garcia will open her Rome Masters 2020 campaign against the 14th seed Anett Kontaveit.
The Frenchwoman has slipped to the 45th position in the WTA rankings, but she recently defeated Karolina Pliskova at the US Open. Pliskova was the No. 1 seed in the competition, but Garcia tamed her 6-1, 7-6 in their second-round match.
Garcia also competed in Istanbul last week, where she lost to Tereza Martincova in the Round of 16. The 26-year-old has looked in good form recently, and her fans would be backing her to perform well in Italy.
Estonia's Anett Kontaveit broke into the top 15 last year, but she currently is at the 21st position in the WTA rankings.
Kontaveit had made it to the pre-quarterfinals of the 2020 US Open, where she lost to the eventual champion Naomi Osaka. The 24-year-old had lost to Osaka in the Western & Southern Open quarterfinal as well.
She will be keen to put those losses behind and make a fresh start in Europe. Kontaveit had beaten Caroline Garcia in the opening round of the Stuttgart Open last year, which is why she will be fancying her chances against the French player.
Anett Kontaveit vs Caroline Garcia head-to-head
Anett Kontaveit is level with Caroline Garcia at 1-1 in the head-to-head. As mentioned above, the two women battled in Stuttgart last year, where Kontaveit won 6-4, 6-3.
Their first meeting ended in Garcia's favor though; she defeated her rival 7-6, 2-6, 6-4 in Luxembourg four years ago.
Anett Kontaveit vs Caroline Garcia prediction
Caroline Garcia and Anett Kontaveit performed well in the United States. Garcia also played in a claycourt event recently, but she might struggle against Kontaveit at the Rome Masters given the latter's firepower off the ground.
Kontaveit has improved her serve a lot under coach Nigel Sears. Meanwhile, Garcia could score just 35.9% points on the first return in her Istanbul match against Tereza Martincova, and failed to break her opponent's serve in the first set.
Anett Kontaveit will be the favorite to win, but Caroline Garcia could stretch her to three sets.
Prediction: Anett Kontaveit to win in three sets.
