tennis | Tuesday, March 14, 2023 10:41 AM (Revised at: Tuesday, March 14, 2023 3:49 PM)

Tuesday Tennis Best Bet: WTA Indian Wells, Jessica Pegula vs Petra Kvitova

Jon Reid

Jessica Pegula vs Petra Kvitova Best Bet: Tuesday, March 14th

Odd match from Karolina Muchova, who dominated the early stages, couldn’t convert break points to lock in a lopsided set, then just couldn’t even manage to generate break points for almost the entire second and third sets. She was hurt and needed an off-court medical timeout, but probably should’ve still beaten Martina Trevisan easily.

For Tuesday, we’ll preview the matchup between American Jessica Pegula and the big-serving lefty Petra Kvitova.

In this article:

Jessica Pegula vs Petra Kvitova Preview
Jessica Pegula vs Petra Kvitova Best Bet

Jessica Pegula vs Petra Kvitova Preview

March 14th,.22:00 (UK Time)

It’s a rematch from the United Cup in January, in what was the first match of the year for both women.

That one was a tightly-contested contest that went the way of Kvitova – albeit on much quicker, lower-bouncing courts.

That’s key, because as a big server with a strong forehand, Kvitova’s game is much tougher to beat the quicker the courts are.

She’s also one of the players that has a game that can go from formidable to vulnerable as court speeds decrease.

She’s not a very strong mover, she doesn’t play with a lot of topspin, and her rally tolerance isn’t the hallmark of her game. Her power can also be muted to an extent.

Pegula’s game also plays up on quicker courts, but the ability to counterpunch and her baseline solidity play across all surfaces and court speeds.

She’s a much better athlete and more consistent from the baseline. With the ability to absorb Kvitova’s pace and fire it back into open space, as well as keep her unforced errors count limited, she should be able to exact revenge in this spot.

She was able to do just that against two other big hitters from the baseline in Anastasia Potapova and Camila Giorgi in her last two matches, and while Kvitova has a higher pedigree than both those women, she doesn’t possess the ability to move side-to-side and extend as many rallies as they do.

I’ll side with the American here to win and do so by at least four games.

Jessica Pegula vs Petra Kvitova Best Bet

In slower conditions, with Pegula having more time to get set and punch back the pace coming from Kvitova’s side of the net, I think she should be favoured by a wide margin to win this one.

While she is in the winner’s market, the handicap being under four games is a mistake in my book and underestimates the advantages Pegula has here relative to the quicker conditions we saw when these two met down under.