Two players who have under-performed so far in 2016 face off at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix on Wednesday, with Ana Ivanovic taking on Karolina Pliskova in a second round match. This will be the final singles match of the day, taking place at around 20:30 Stuttgart time (19:30 UK Time), and the winner will face 1st seed Agnieszka Radwanska or Andrea Petkovic in the quarter-finals.
It’s fair to say that neither Ivanovic or Pliskova have impressed too much this season, though they were both able to win an opening match here. Ivanovic was the more comfortable of the two, struggling in the first set but eventually seeing of Carina Witthoeft 7-6 6-0; she may need to improve, though will be happy with that second set performance. Things were much more difficult for Pliskova, though she battled past fellow Czech star (and 8th seed) Lucie Safarova 7-6 4-6 7-5 in a tight match; she may need to improve, but she could be confident after such a tough win.
Both have big weapons, with Pliskova having a big serve and Ivanovic having a strong forehand. Each are crucial for the respective player, and both must use this effectively to have a strong chance of winning this match. Apart from her serve, Pliskova also has a powerful game overall, with big groundstrokes. She should use these to try and dictate play and put Ivanovic on the back foot. However, she cannot let Ivanovic try and dictate her, as Pliskova is not the greatest mover on clay and Ivanovic is very experienced on the surface. Ivanovic must serve well (this is the most erratic part of her game) and must also be careful to not make too many errors, though is the strongest clay court player of the two and should look to try and dictate play with every opportunity she gets.
Pliskova dominates the head to head 4-0, conceding just one set to Ivanovic, and stormed past the Serbian in less than an hour in Indian Wells earlier this year. Ivanovic is the stronger of the two on clay and was more comfortable in the second round, though there is clearly something about Pliskova’s game that bothers the Serbian and if Pliskova brings her best, she should edge this.
Prediction: Pliskova in 3
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