2016 WTA Finals Monday tips: Kuznetsova, Pliskova to win opening White Group fixtures
Published:
2016 WTA Finals
- White Group, day two
- Monday, October 23th
- Play starts: 12:30 BST
- Singapore Indoor Stadium, Kallang
- Live on BT Sport 1
2016 WTA Finals Monday tips
After the likes of Angelique Kerber and Simona Halep in the Red Group opened the prestigious WTA Finals tournament on Sunday, the White Group kicks off on Monday.
Defending champion and sole winner of this event out of the eight competitors this year Agnieszka Radwanska takes on late qualifier Svetlana Kuznetsova, while Karolina Pliskova and Garbine Muguruza tussle in the later match.
Read on to find out our 2016 WTA Finals Monday tips…
In-form Kuznetsova to shock title holder Radwanska
Polish WTA world number three Radwanska may be the defending champion, after her surprise triumph over Petra Kvitova in last year’s final, but she has never really enjoyed facing upcoming opponent Kuznetsova.
The pair have faced off 16 times before, with the Russian having won 12 of them including the last two – one of which was this year at the Wuhan Open in three sets.
Kuznetsova only qualified for this tournament at the last minute after winning the Kremlin Cup in her home city to cruelly deny Britain’s Johanna Konta from taking part in this event for the first time.
After her superb run of form, she is a 2/1 shout to beat Radwanska to give her a great chance of qualifying from the round-robin White Group. Even tastier odds of 9/2 say that the 31-year-old can win 2-1 once more.
Pliskova to beat Muguruza in straight sets
Venezuelan-born Spaniard Muguruza has dipped in form the second half of 2016, after claiming the French Open earlier in the summer, which has since seen her drop to number six in the world from second in the WTA rankings.
Pliskova, on the other hand, enjoyed a fantastic run to the US Open final last month, where she only lost to Kerber 2-1.
The rapidly rising Czech has even beaten fellow young-gun Muguruza in each of their last three meetings – the last two of which were in straight sets.
Pliskova swept the Spaniard aside with ease most recently in the Cincinnati Masters semis this year on her way to lifting the title, in a convincing 6-1 6-3 victory, and so the slight odds-on favourite is 2/1 to win 2-0 again.
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