tennis | Wednesday, January 11, 2023 1:40 PM

Wednesday Tennis Best Bet: WTA Australian Open Qualifying, Katherine Sebov vs Simona Waltert

Jon Reid

Katherine Sebov vs Simona Waltert Best Bet: Wednesday, January 11th

It was a rough go with Magdalena Frech on Tuesday night. The slices were incredibly poor, sitting up and allowing Sachia Vickery to punish them relentlessly. As a result, Frech really struggled to hold serve and was dispatched from qualification.

Onto Wednesday, where I once again have my eye on the qualifying draw from Melbourne for our women’s selection. Let’s take a look at the match between Katherine Sebov and Simona Waltert!

In this article:

Katherine Sebov vs Simona Waltert Preview
Katherine Sebov vs Simona Waltert Best Bet

Katherine Sebov vs Simona Waltert Preview

January 12th, 3:30 (UK Time)

Reaching the main draw of a grand slam is a big deal for any player that manages to come through qualifying. This matchup in particular feels more important, considering neither of these women has ever made the main draw of a grand slam prior to this week. In fact, for the 24-year-old from just outside of Toronto, this is only her second time in a qualifying draw and her wins against Linda Noskova and Priscilla Hon are the only grand slam wins of her career.

The Canadian’s improvements have been noticeable in the last few months as well. Her serve and forehand have become far more potent in recent events on quicker surfaces, which has served her well on the quicker courts at Melbourne Park.

Beating Noskova was incredibly impressive (though the Czech young gun was coming off seven matches at the WTA 500 level the week prior – including several three-setters) and handling Hon while losing just four games was another step in the right direction. It should come as no surprise that she has set a new career-high ranking of 191 entering the week (that will rise even further should she manage to win this one).

As for Waltert, it’s been an impressive week for the Swiss as well. Despite being more comfortable on clay and having won more matches on the dirt, the tall 22-year-old’s game is well-equipped for success on hard courts as well. She’s got a strong serve and forehand, but she also has a foundation of relatively consistent play that one requires for success on clay.

That has made her a fairly well-rounded player, and her wins over the quick-court specialist in Greet Minnen and a strong server in Astra Sharma have showcased the strides she’s made on hard courts.

Katherine Sebov vs Simona Waltert Best Bet

I’m not too keen on picking between these two in terms of who wins and moves into the main draw, but I certainly think the match has the hallmarks needed to bet on the total games to go over.

Two strong servers that can hit groundstrokes with pace, that are both talented and could very well win a set. With neither having reached the main draw at a grand slam event either, if one of the two is closing in on a straight sets, routine victory, one has to wonder if nerves will kick in and present the other with an opportunity to come back and extend the match.

I’m happy to back the match to go at least 22 games between these two.