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Match details
Fixture: Coco Gauff vs Daria Kasatkina
Tournament: Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 2022
Round: First round (Round of 32)
Venue: Stuttgart, Germany
Category: WTA 500
Surface: Clay
Prize money: $757,900
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video
Coco Gauff vs Daria Kasatkina preview
Coco Gauff and Daria Kasatkina will clash in an exciting first-round encounter at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart.
Gauff's results in singles have been decent this year, though the teenager is capable of a lot more. A semifinal at the WTA 250 event in Adelaide and a quarterfinal at the WTA 1000 tournament in Qatar are her best showings so far this season. In her previous tournament in Miami, she lost to eventual winner Iga Swiatek in the fourth round.
Gauff has, however, continued to excel in doubles. She won her first WTA 1000 title at the Qatar Open, and reached the quarterfinals and the semifinals in Indian Wells and Miami respectively. Her string of good results have led to her making her top-10 debut in the doubles rankings.
Daria Kasatkina, meanwhile, started the year on a strong note by reaching the semifinals of the Melbourne Summer Set 2 and the Sydney Tennis Classic. She then lost in the third round of the Australian Open to Iga Swiatek.
Kasatkina suffered two more losses to Swiatek during the Middle Eastern swing, failing to win more than three games in both of those matches. Her woes continued during the North American hardcourt swing as well as she lost in the initial rounds yet again.
The Russian will be hoping for a change in fortunes as she begins her clay season.
Coco Gauff vs Daria Kasatkina head-to-head
Kasatkina leads Gauff 1-0 in the head-to-head. She won their solitary encounter in straight sets at the 2019 Miami Open.
Coco Gauff vs Daria Kasatkina odds
All odds are sourced from BetMGM.
Coco Gauff vs Daria Kasatkina prediction
Kasatkina is a former quarterfinalist at Roland Garros, having reached that stage in 2018. Gauff, meanwhile, won the French Open as a junior, while reaching her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the tournament last year. The teenager also accumulated a 16-4 record on clay last year, which was much better than her 14-10 record on hardcourt.
This is set to be the first match of the year on clay for both players, so they might take some time to find their feet. Gauff's serve remains a cause for concern, as she tends to throw in double faults at inopportune moments. Her forehand has also been misfiring of late, but she'll have a little more time on clay to time her shots.
Kasatkina would do well to target Gauff's forehand. The Russian should also look to throw in some slices and off-paced shots to keep the American guessing. There's not a lot separating the two in terms of form and it could just come down to who executes better on the night.
Pick: Gauff to win in three sets.
