tennis | Friday, October 7, 2022 7:50 AM

Friday Tennis Best Bet: WTA Monastir, Alize Cornet vs Tamara Zidansek

Jon Reid

Alize Cornet vs Tamara Zidansek Best Bet: Friday, October 7th

A big swing and a miss on Thursday with Daria Kasatkina. Resembled the Pavel Kotov match against Roberto Bautista Agut. Same scorelines and same sloppy play in the first, followed by a blown lead in the second.

For Friday, it’s back to Monastir and the first match on court between Alize Cornet and Tamara Zidansek for a spot in the semifinals.

In this article:

Alize Cornet vs Tamara Zidansek Preview
Alize Cornet vs Tamara Zidansek Best Bet

Alize Cornet vs Tamara Zidansek Preview

October 7th, 11:00 UK Time

What a matchup here for the veteran Frenchwoman, as she takes on Zidansek in a match she’ll be extremely disappointed should she lose.

The Slovenian is more of a clay courter, with a topspin game that isn’t nearly as effective on hard courts and in the instances she does elect to dial up the pace on the forehand wing, she runs into her fair share of unforced errors. That can be a recipe for disaster against someone like Cornet.

Not only does she become more error-prone when forced to dial up the pace to win points – something she’ll be forced to do against the rock-solid baseline play of the wily veteran – but even then she doesn’t have the necessary raw power to hit through the defences of Cornet.

Finally, Cornet’s variety and tennis IQ in the form of elite point construction should swing this one heavily in her favour. Her ability to slice, land balls with precision and come into net at the right times to effectively put away points is what helps keep her among the top-40 players in the women’s game without much power to her game.

Alize Cornet vs Tamara Zidansek Best Bet

Whether it be her superiority in the consistency department, the fact that she is more comfortable than her Slovenian counterpart on hard courts and in quick conditions, or the fact that she profiles well in this matchup, I have Cornet as a dominant favourite in this one.

I’m more than happy to pay a slightly more expensive price to get her at -4 games here on the handicap. This one should be much closer to -5 games for my money.