tennis | Friday, August 12, 2022 8:18 AM (Revised at: Friday, August 12, 2022 2:09 PM)

Friday Tennis Best Bet: WTA Toronto, Karolina Pliskova vs. Qinwen Zheng

Jon Reid

Karolina Pliskova vs. Qinwen Zheng Best Bet: Friday, August 12th

After a nice, straightforward win from Belinda Bencic on Thursday night in Toronto, it’s back to the night session for Friday’s selection from the WTA 1000 event in Canada’s largest city!

Let’s delve into the match between Karolina Pliskova and one of the up-and-coming sensations in the women’s game, Qinwen Zheng!

In this article:

Karolina Pliskova vs. Qinwen Zheng Preview
Karolina Pliskova vs. Qinwen Zheng Best Bet

Karolina Pliskova vs. Qinwen Zheng Preview

August 13th, 1:30 UK Time

It’s been a much-needed week for the big serving veteran from Czechia. Pliskova has managed three wins this week en route to the quarterfinals at the Canadian Open. That may not seem significant knowing the heights she’s reached in the past, but it’s just the second time she’s done that at a tournament in 2022 – the other being a WTA 250 in Strasbourg with a weak field the week prior to the French Open.

She’s beaten her compatriot Barbora Krejcikova, American Amanda Anisimova and notched a victory against Maria Sakkari on Thursday evening to reach this point – though she nearly blew that final match after serving for the match in the second set, needing a decider.

The problem here for Pliskova is that she has yet to play someone with as well-rounded a game as the young woman from China that she’ll see on Friday night.

At just 19 years old, Zheng entered the week as the world No. 51 and will easily surpass her career-high ranking of 46. In fact, a win on Friday would put her right on the cusp of being seeded at the U.S. Open at the end of the month.

With a serve and the power on her groundstrokes to stick with her counterpart in this affair, Zheng blows away Pliskova in the movement and athleticism departments, despite being just one centimetre shorter.

Other than a tendency to see the double faults accumulate every few matches (something Pliskova isn’t exactly immune to either), it’s hard to pinpoint what exactly Pliskova does better than Zheng.

Karolina Pliskova vs. Qinwen Zheng Best Bet

In what is a relatively close affair for my money, the wrong woman is the slight favourite in this one. It appears as though the market has given Pliskova the edge almost entirely due to name recognition and pedigree.

Matchup-wise, however, I’m showing Zheng as the better player at the moment. Even in terms of route to the quarters, while Pliskova managed to beat a tough top-tier talent in Sakkari, Zheng thwarted world No. 5 Ons Jabeur in dominant fashion before the Tunisian retired, and took down a pair of Canadians on Centre Court in front of full-throated support from the home crowd – including defending champion and former U.S. Open champion, Bianca Andreescu.

This match is very similar to the Jack Draper wager we cashed (due to a second-set Gael Monfils retirement) on Thursday. A much better, young talent being undervalued simply because the player they’re opposing has a rich history. We’ll look to take advantage, once again.

Selection: Zheng to win
Odds: 2.11 (Pinnacle)
Stakes: 3/10

Odds as at 2:20 pm on August 12th, 2022. Odds may now differ.

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