H2H: Sofia Kenin vs. Karolina Muchova - Prediction (25.10.2019)

Preview and players comparison.

Karolina Muchova, the last player to qualify for the WTA Elite Trophy, opened the campaign with a challenging win over Alison Riske, to whom she had lost to at ‘s-Hertogenbosch earlier this year. She came back from a break deficit in the deciding set twice to prevail 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 for her fourth top 20 win of the season. Muchova has made just thirteen main draw outings in the season, claiming multiple wins in seven of them. This consistency has taken the Czech from being ranked 144th in January to the top 30. En route, she won a WTA title in Seoul, finished runner-up in Prague, and entered a Grand Slam quarterfinal at SW19.

Sofia Kenin started at Zhuhai a day earlier than Muchova and managed to beat Alison Riske in straight sets. She won 84% of her first-serve points and dismissed the countrywoman, 6-4, 6-4, in 74 minutes without facing a breakpoint. The 20-year-old was a five-match losing run against fellow top 20 players. Kenin has been equally phenomenal this season. Having made her top 100 debut in the previous year, the American has comprehensively leveled up in 2019, winning three titles — including one at Guangzhou, China last month — and posting semifinal finishes at Premier-5 tournaments of Cincinnati and Toronto.

Muchova seeks just her fourth WTA semifinal appearance and second in as many weeks. She is coming off a deep run at Moscow, beating Alexandrova, Vekic, and Kuznetsova en route. “The last few days, I was mostly traveling here. So, I came late, I didn’t come very prepared as I would wish I am,” said the Czech. Kenin, on the other hand, hopes to carry on the successful Asian (China) swing, which also includes a quarterfinal at Zhengzhou and last-16 finishes in Wuhan and Beijing. In this virtual quarterfinal, the world no. 12 stands the clear favorite in the pair’s first meeting. A compilation in scoreline would not be surprising.