Two experienced campaigners, Karolina Pliskova and Garbine Muguruza square off in the round of 32 of the 2023 Abu Dhabi Open on Tuesday.
Karolina Pliskova
The former world No. 1 did not start the season on a great note. She lost to 7th seed Jelena Ostapenko in the Adelaide International 1 in the round of 32. In the Adelaide International 2, Pliskova went past Jule Niemeier and Shelby Rogers in the qualifiers but lost to 10th seed Danielle Collins in the round of 32.
At the Australian Open, Pliskova had an impressive campaign. In the first round, Pliskova eased past Xiyu Wang. She defeated Yulia Putintseva in the second round. With comfortable wins against Varvara Gracheva and Zhang Shuai, Pliskova made it to the quarterfinals where she lost to Magda Linette.
Garbine Muguruza
The two-time Grand Slam champion is yet to win a match so far this season. Like Pliskova, Muguruza also lost her first match of the season against Bianca Andreescu at the Adelaide International 1. She was ousted in the first round of the Adelaide International 2 by 8th seed Belinda Bencic.
In the Australian Open, Muguruza took the first set in the first-round clash against Elise Mertens. However, the Belgian star made a strong comeback to defeat Muguruza. The Spanish veteran took part in the Lyon Open. She was outplayed by the talented Linda Noskova in the first round.
Head-to-Head and Prediction
Garbine Muguruza and Karolina Pliskova will know each other’s game pretty well as they have faced each other on 11 occasions. The latter has a comfortable 9-2 lead in the head-to-head scoreline. Their most recent meeting was at the WTA Finals in 2021 where Pliskova won in three sets.
Prediction: Karoline Pliskova to win in three sets.
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