Sakkari vs Alexandrova: prediction for the WTA Saint Petersburg match
On February 9, Maria Sakkari will face Ekaterina Alexandrova in the second round of Saint Petersburg tournament. Will Russian player be able to satisfy local fans? You'll find the answer in our prediction.

Command Analysis

Maria Sakkari

For the most recent time Maria Sakkari performed at Saint Petersburg in 2020. Back then, Greek player reached the semi-final. She was eventually eliminated by Elena Rybakina (6:3, 5:7, 1:6). Sakkari will surely try to fight for the title this time, but she got a difficult draw.
In the first round World No. 7 player had a difficult match against Anastasia Potapova (6:4, 6:4). In the first set Sakkari had to mount a comeback from a 1:4 score. Sakkari also lost one game at her serve in the second set. It seems like Greek player had difficulties with adaptation to local court.

Ekaterina Alexandrova

Ekaterina Alexandrova defends rankings points for the quarter-final of previous Saint Petersburg tournament. Russian player also experienced some problems in the first round match, but eventually secured a victory over Camila Giorgi (6:2, 1:6, 6:2).
In three sets Alexandrova made 12 double faults. She had to take too much risk in order to handle Giorgi's attacks. In the third set Giorgi made more mistakes than Potapova and Russian player advanced into the second round.
Trends
СтавкаSets performance: 2>1
This bet played in each of three head-to-head matches

Ставка1st set: total under 9.5
In two out of three most recent head-to-head matches no more than nine games were played

Tip and bets
Sakkari is an uncomfortable opponent for Alexandrova. Throughout her career, Sakkari recorded three victories over Alexandrova. Both athletes were not looking convincing in the first round, so we think that Sakkari's advantage on head-to-head matches will be a key factor in the upcoming match.
Our prediction - Sakkari to win with a handicap of (-3) games
Sakkari won each of five most recent matches by a 2:0 score on sets. We are not expecting a long match today as well.
Our second bet is on total under 21 games