World No. 42 Yulia Putintseva locks horns with world No. 76 Karolina Muchova in the round of 128 of the 2023 Indian Wells on Thursday.
The experienced campaigner began the season on a decent note as she reached the quarterfinals in Hobart with wins against Claire Liu and Nuria Parrizas-Diaz. Putintseva lost to Karolina Pliskova in the second round of the Australian Open. She couldn’t get past the first round in the Thailand Open, losing to Heather Watson after winning the first set. In Dubai, she progressed from the qualifiers and defeated Bianca Andreescu in the first round. Her run ended in the round of 16 with a loss to Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Before Indian Wells, Putintseva played in the Dubai Tennis Championships, where she defeated Petra Martic in the first round before losing to Petra Kvitova in the following round.
The 26-year-old Muchova reached the quarterfinals in the ASB Classic. She managed to defeat the talented Lesia Tsurenko in the first round of the Australian Open but couldn’t beat Danielle Collins after winning the first set in the second round. Muchova crashed out in the second round of the Qatar Open with a loss to 3rd seed Caroline Garcia.
Prior to Indian Wells, Muchova managed to defeat Sorana Cirstea and Belinda Bencic to reach the quarterfinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships. She pulled out prior to her quarter-final encounter against Jessica Pegula.
The head-to-head scoreline stands at 0-0 as this will be the first meeting between the two players.
Prediction: Karolina Muchova to win in three sets.
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