Sabalenka vs Tomljanovic: prediction for the WTA Kremlin Cup
On October 20, Aryna Sabalenka will play against Ajla Tomljanovic in the second round of Kremlin Cup. We offer our prediction for this match.

Command Analysis

Aryna Sabalenka

Aryna Sabalenka didn't perform on tour for the month after the semi-final of US Open. World No. 2 player wanted to play at Indian Wells tournament, but she was tested positive for coronavirus. Lack of match practice and recent illness will probably affect her performance at Moscow.
Before the current year Sabalenka participated at Kremlin Cup only once. In 2016 she failed to advance through qualification. We should note that Belarusian player didn't play a single match on indoor courts this year.

Ajla Tomljanovic

Ajla Tomljanovic performed successfully at recent Indian Wells tournament. Despite all the predictions, Australian player reached the round of 16, beating Muguruza along the way (6:3, 1:6, 6:3).
Tomljanovic is a regular guest at Moscow, so she had no problems with adaptation in the first round. She recorded a 6:2, 6:4 victory over Liudmila Samsonova. Tomljanovic is surely in a great form now, so she will try to put up a fight against a famous opponent. Tomljanovic played against Sabalenka four times, Australian player lost three of those matches, but in two of them she snatched a set.
Trends
СтавкаSets performance: 2>1
Only in one of four most recent head-to-head matches this bet didn't play

СтавкаSecond set: total over 9.5
In each of four head-to-head matches more than nine games were played in the second set

Tip and bets
Belarusian player had no match practice for over a month, because she was isolated due to coronavirus. It is hard to expect a brilliant performance from Sabalenka since the first match. Plus her opponent is in a great form, in previous head-to-head matches she managed to put up a fight against Sabalenka. In our opinion, underdog will be able to hold on to a plus handicap on games.
Our prediction - Tomljanovic to win with a handicap of (+5) games
Only in one head-to-head match players had less than 20 games played. All other four matches were extremely contested. We are expecting a long match.
Our second bet is on total over 20 games