tennis | Monday, July 10, 2023 8:58 AM

Monday Tennis Best Bet: WTA Wimbledon, Petra Kvitova vs Ons Jabeur

Jon Reid

Petra Kvitova vs Ons Jabeur Best Bet: Monday, July 10th

Nice stuff from Marketa Vondrousova, who nearly blew the second-set lead against Donna Vekic, but managed to close out the Croatian in straight sets to cash our final bet of last week.

This week brings us the business end of Wimbledon, as well as a pair of WTA 125K events in France and Sweden, so there will be plenty to choose from when looking for our best bet each day!

For Monday, we’ll take a look into a marquee matchup from The Championships, as Petra Kvitova clashes with Ons Jabeur.

In this article:

Petra Kvitova vs Ons Jabeur Preview
Petra Kvitova vs Ons Jabeur Best Bet

Petra Kvitova vs Ons Jabeur Preview

Mon, July 10th, 16:00 (UK Time)

The last match scheduled on Monday for the women is the marquee match of the day for the women’s draw. While the Australian Open champion and last year’s champion are both in action as well, this matchup pits a two-time Wimbledon winner in Kvitova against last year’s finalist in Jabeur (and she was one set from being the defending champion, after taking the opener against Elena Rybakina in that final).

They’re also two of the best grass courters in the women’s game.

Kvitova has proven herself time and again at The Championships, with her big lefty serve and incredible power on the forehand wing. Keeping points short and letting that power and flat ball do the work is the name of the game, and the native of Bilovec in the Czech Republic does just that.

As for Jabeur, she too has a strong serve and forehand combination, but the added dimensions to her game are what could set her apart and let her pull off the small upset.

Her movement at this stage is simply better than Kvitova’s, I think her backhand is just as sturdy, if not more so and she has a variety to her game in slices and dropshots that Kvitova simply doesn’t. The dropshots in particular could hound her opponent, when one considers that Kvitova’s movement is probably a weakness to begin with.

Petra Kvitova vs Ons Jabeur Best Bet

I know the head-to-head record here tilts Kvitova’s way and there has been some chatter about the Czech being the stronger grass-court player.

When I look at the strengths and weaknesses of each woman, however, I can’t get away from the fact that I think Jabeur is just better at this stage than Kvitova is.

If we want to talk about the body of work over their respective careers, of course the 33-year-old has been better on grass. In July of 2023? I’ll side with the more well-rounded player to get the job done here and back the Tunisian.