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Mixed martial arts Thursday Tennis Best Bet: WTA Charleston, Daria Kasatkina vs Bernarda Pera
Daria Kasatkina vs Bernarda Pera Best Bet: Thursday, April 6th
Another day, another blown lead. Rinse and repeat. From 7-5, 3-1 up serving at 30-15 and with a poor clay-court player in Stevanovic clearly tiring physically, Laura Pigossi couldn’t find the court and ended up needing a tight third set to win. The mind-numbingly unlucky ratio of blown leads to comeback wins continues.
For Thursday’s best bet from the women’s event, let’s shift to the 500-level event in Charleston, South Carolina in the USA and look at the matchup featuring Daria Kasatkina and Bernarda Pera.
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Daria Kasatkina vs Bernarda Pera Preview
April 6th, 19:00 (UK Time)
What a juxtaposition in game styles on the court in Charleston on Thursday. It’s the free-swinging, aggressive, powerful tennis of Pera, taking on the dogged defensive, consistent tennis of Kasatkina.
The former has had a rough time climbing the rankings despite some serious talent and a tough left-handed game. The latter has reached the top 10 in the world and is well known to tennis fans everywhere, despite what seems like a ceiling to her game because of her lack of offensive play.
As cliche as this may sound, this matchup really does feel like whoever executed their style will end up as the victor.
If Kasatkina can extend enough rallies and let Pera beat herself with a slew of unforced errors – something the American has been all too willing to do in the past – she should find her way through.
Conversely, if Pera can find some control to add to her power, she’ll be tough to beat for a Kasatkina that has struggled to a degree this year.
Kasatkina is a deserved favourite in this spot as the higher-ranked and all-around better player with far more on her resume.
That said, considering she has lost more than she’s won this season, has left far too many balls sitting short and centrally for opponents with power, the clay here isn’t of the slowest variety and the fact that Pera has won 14 matches on the trot on clay courts (albeit mostly against lesser competition), I think this is much more competitive than the odds would suggest.
Daria Kasatkina vs Bernarda Pera Best Bet
Not only has the Russian struggled this season, but half of her losses have come when she was the favourite to win in the betting markets.
Now, it’s worth noting that trends aren’t all that meaningful in particular matchups, but what that particular number shows us is that Kasatkina has been overvalued on a relatively consistent basis in the betting markets in 2023.
With how centrally she’s left the ball against hitters and Pera’s ability to beat anyone on any given day, combined with her ball striking and front-foot tennis certain to dictate against Kasatkina, I’ll gladly play her as the underdog here.
- Selection: Pera to win
- Best Odds: 3.00 (Bet365)
- Stakes: 2/10
Odds as at 2:00 am on April 6th, 2023. Odds may now differ.
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