Happy to side with the home player in Zarazua at an underdog price in these conditions.
Anna Karolina Schmiedlova is a player that fairly and squarely falls into the category of being a player that I can support in the right spots at big underdog prices, however as a favourite for the most part lacks the consistency that I would want to come with taking favourite prices, unless an exceptional position arose. Today is not one of those days.
Renata Zarazua got off to a shaky start in her match with Kawa, however only trailed at one point at *5-6 in the first set. After both players traded breaks for the first 10 games, Zarazua wasn’t headed the rest of the way, winning 7-6 6-0. Over the last 14 months she has delivered her best performances in her home country, and she backed that up with a solid win to kick off the tournament. Whilst it took her a while to find her range on serve, it was most impressive to see her consistency on the service return across the duration of the match.
Schmiedlova did beat Hibino in round 1, however her formlines aren’t sound enough through the first few months of the year to back her in here as a favourite. Taking Zarazua at a price north of $2 is value for mine in the conditions, and I will be backing her for 2 units.
Suggested Bet
2 units Zarazua to defeat Schmiedlova at $2.03 at Topsport (Note: $2.09 at Pinnacle and $2.10 at Bet365)