Sakkari vs Begu: prediction for the WTA Saint Petersburg match
On February 12, Maria Sakkari will take on Irina Camelia Begu in the semi-final of Saint Petersburg tournament. Will we see a confident victory from the Greek player? The answer is in our prediction.

Command Analysis

Maria Sakkari

Maria Sakkari managed to match her 2020 achievement at Saint Petersburg tournament, she reached the semi-final once again. Back then, Greek player was stopped by Elena Rybakina (6:3, 5:7, 1:6).
In the current tournament Maria easily advanced past three rounds, she didn't lose a single set so far. In two first rounds Greek player beat two Russian opponents, Potapova (6:4, 6:4) and Alexandrova (6:2, 6:4). In the quarter-final Sakkari was close to lose a set, in the first set of a match against Mertens Sakkari failed to convert set-points, but opponent failed to win a decisive game at her serve. A World No. 7 player eventually recorded a victory (7:6, 6:2).

Irina-Camelia Begu

Before the start of Saint Petersburg tournament no one expected that a World No. 56 player, Irina Camelia Begu, will reach the semi-final. But Romanian player managed to surprise everyone and will now fight for a spot in the final.
On her way to the semi-final Begu beat all of her opponents by a 2:0 score on sets. In the first round Begu managed to beat Zhang Shuai (6:3, 6:1), after that she left no chance to Kvitova (6:4, 6:0). In the quarter-final Romanian player easily beat another Czech player, Tereza Martincova (6:4, 6:2).
Trends
СтавкаSets performance: 2>1
This bet played in two most recent head-to-head matches

Ставка1st set: total under 9.5
In each of two head-to-head matches Begu and Sakkari played no more than nine games in the first set

Tip and bets
Semi-final opponents are familiar with each other, they faced each other two times before. So far the score in head-to-head matches is tied at 1:1. Sakkari recorded her victory in three sets. But today, at Saint Petersburg tournament, Begu is at her peak, she plays well at her serve, so she should be able to hold on to a plus handicap.
Our prediction - Begu to win with a handicap of (+5) games
In the most recent head-to-head matches opponents played three sets. We are expecting at least 20 games to be played.
Our second bet is on total over 20 games