Paulo Badosa
9th seed Paula Badosa faces Anett Kontaveit in the round of 32 of the Adelaide International 2 on Tuesday.
The Spanish star had an unfortunate end to last season as she was forced to retire during her match against Victoria Azarenka due to illness. Badosa began the 2023 tennis season by taking part in the inaugural United Cup.
She played a solitary match against Harriet Dart of Great Britain. The 25-year-old emerged victorious in three sets. The match turned out to be closer than what the former world No. 2 would have liked. Badosa would like to get enough matches under her belt ahead of the Australian Open, where her best result came last year when she made it to the fourth round.
The 27-year-old had a great start to 2022 and would hope for much of the same in 2023. Although, her first assignment in 2023 did not turn out to be a memorable campaign.
Kontaveit took part in the Adelaide International 1 and was seeded sixth. The Estonian No. 1 lost to China’s Qinwen Zheng in the first round. Kontaveit will look to bounce back strongly in this tournament. A deep run in this event will give her a lot of confidence going into the 2023 Australian Open that begins next week.
Anett Kontaveit and Paula Badosa have faced each other only once. The former got the better of the Spaniard at the 2021 Ostrava Open in the round of 16. The match ended in straight sets 6-3, 6-4.
Prediction: Anett Kontaveit to win in three sets.
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