tennis | Friday, May 5, 2023 8:03 AM

Friday Tennis Best Bet: WTA 125K Saint Malo, Magdalena Frech vs Katie Volynets

Jon Reid

Magdalena Frech vs Katie Volynets Best Bet: Friday, May 5th

Iga Swiatek’s dominance of Veronika Kudermetova continued on Thursday in Madrid, as the world No. 1 made it six consecutive sets played against the Russian that she won by a score of 6-1 or better.

For Friday, we head back to the 125K events, as the women are off for the day in Madrid, and we’ll look at the match between Magdalena Frech and Katie Volynets from Saint-Malo, France.

In this article:

Magdalena Frech vs Katie Volynets Preview
Magdalena Frech vs Katie Volynets Best Bet

Magdalena Frech vs Katie Volynets Preview

May 5th, 11:30 (UK Time)

I have to say, as someone who doubted Volynets’ abilities on clay in a big way coming into this clay season, the matches I’ve watched of hers so far have certainly helped change my perspective.

Without much real success on the European-style slow red dirt, I was hesitant to believe she’d be able to play top-100 tennis. Sure, she has a very consistent game from the baseline and constructs points well, but she wasn’t particularly strong at hitting with attacking topspin and the higher bounce and sliding ability had me sceptical.

Needless to say, she’s alleviated those concerns in the last few weeks.

After thinking she would be crushed by Linda Fruhvirtova in Madrid, she actually played a great second set. That match also saw her employ plenty of defensive spin to give herself time to recover to the centre of the court, while also hitting a heavy forehand that hit the court and flew up, taking time away from the talented Czech.

This week has seen a few more nice wins – particularly against Maryna Zanevska, who is the type of player that really excels on clay at this level.

As for Frech, she too, plays a style more well-suited to hard courts. With a decent serve and a slice-heavy game, it’s easy to see how she competes on the lower-bouncing and quicker surfaces.

Clay, however, doesn’t reward those tactics nearly as much.

Though she has six wins this season, I fail to see one that stands out as a signature victory. Jasmine Paolini is the best of the six, and she’s been pretty poor this year so far.