Ekaterina Alexandrova (Rus) vs. Kristyna Pliskova (Cze) – Score prediction (9.10.2019)

Overview.

Ekaterina Alexandrova continues to break new grounds in Asia. Starting with a semifinal at Seoul, the Russian upset a compromised Simona Halep, 6-2, 6-3, en route to the last-16 stage of China Open for her maiden top 5 win. Ranked no. 119 this week last year, she has now risen to the 35th spot in the rankings. Alexandrova enjoyed her first deep WTA result at Upper Austria Ladies Linz last year. Making just her second appearance here, and the first in the main draw, the 24-year-old went from the qualifyings to the title round, beating seeded players in Pavlyuchenkova and Siniakova en route — lost to Giorgi in 59 minutes.

Kristyna Pliskova entered her fourth WTA semifinal, and the second of the season after Lugano, at Tashkent Open, the tournament where she won her lone career singles title. She knocked out top seed Kuzmova en route to the final four, having not won consecutive matches in 9 out of her last 11 main draw outings. Pliskova will be playing at Linz for the sixth time, having made her debut in 2012. She did not score her first main draw win until last year when she dismissed qualifier Grammatikopoulou while playing as a lucky loser. The Czech went on to lose to compatriot and defending champion Strycova in the second round.

The pair met a few days ago in the second round of Seoul, with Alexandrova prevailing in 91 minutes after coming from a set down, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. The Russian’s season three-set win-loss stands at 9-8. Pliskova, once again the underdog, enters the match having lost 13 of her last 15 encounters with the top 50 players.

Match Info.

Competition: WTA – SINGLES: Linz (Austria), hard (indoor)
Start: 9.10.2019, 10:00 UTC.