Tennis. WTA Australian Open. Round of 32
Marta Kostyuk (Ukraine) vs Paula Badosa (Spain)
Melbourne-Park (Melbourne)
Marta Kostyuk made it to the third round of the Australian Open women’s draw, but she is to face the toughest test in the 1/16 finals of the major, the world No.6 and recent Sydney winner, Paula Badosa.
Claim Your Welcome Bonus!Marta Kostyuk form
The match against Badosa will be the 6th official match this season for Marta. Before that, the Ukrainian lost to Liu in Melbourne, and Adelaide witnessed her beat Rogers and lose to Gauff. At the Major, she has not lost a single set yet, knocking out Frenchwoman Parry, the world No. 114 and Spaniard Sorribes Tormo, the world No. 35. Even with two sets, the match against Sara seemed a very long one. The first set saw the women play a tie-break, and in the second one, Kostyuk allowed her opponent to take three games.
Paula Badosa form
The Spaniard's winning streak is as many as 7 matches. After dropping out of the Adelaide tournament in her first game against Azarenka, Badosa moved to Sydney where she triumphed, knocking out Ostapenko, Tomljanovic, Bencic and Kasatkina and outplaying Krejcikova in a very long final match. The Spaniard kicked off to a very confident start, defeating Tomljanovic and Trevisan. It's also important that Kostyuk and Badosa already met on the tour two years ago, and it was at the Australian Open. Back then, Marta gave a real fight to Paula, and they played a tie-break in the first set. Ever since both tennis players have improved their skills, but Badosa became a real top player, which can not be said about the Ukrainian.
«How do I feel after 7 matches in 10 days? Tired (smiles). No, generally good. Today’s match against Martina Trevisan was not easy. It's not so easy to play with her, Martina is a fighter. I knew she'd fight for every point, so I'm happy that I won. Speaking of the next match, Marta Kostyuk and I have been friends for a long time, for several years. I follow Marta's results and have a lot of respect for her. She has great potential. When asked who will be the next star on the tour, I say it's Marta.»
Expert Betting Tips
The women have already met on the tour, so it seems that the Spaniard holds an advantage, being at her peak form or at least very close to it. For Kostyuk, the third round at the AO is an achievement itself, while Badosa has bigger tasks to do. There is no doubt that the Spaniard counts on the quarterfinals, no less, and winning is not enough to achieve that for that — it is desirable to save strength, at least in the early stages. Especially since Badosa was extremely busy last week, and she must be tired already at the start of the season. Here are the betting options for the upcoming match: TU (21.5) for 1.65; H2 (-6.5) for 3.20.
Other predictions
