tennis | Thursday, February 9, 2023 10:05 AM (Revised at: Thursday, February 9, 2023 1:38 PM)

Thursday Tennis Best Bet: WTA Linz, Petra Martic vs Alison van Uytvanck

Jon Reid

Petra Martic vs Alison van Uytvanck Best Bet: Thursday, February 9th

That win was even more simple than I had anticipated. Glad I didn’t reduce the stake too much and still attacked a very poor set of numbers. Onwards, as we look to continue building the bankroll.

For Thursday, we’ll look at the match between Petra Martic and Alison van Uytvanck from the Upper Austria Open in Linz.

In this article:

Petra Martic vs Alison van Uytvanck Preview
Petra Martic vs Alison van Uytvanck Best Bet

Petra Martic vs Alison van Uytvanck Preview

February 9th, 19:00 (UK Time)

Great opportunity for both van Uytvanck and Martic this week to make a run into the latter stages of a WTA tournament.

It’s the first time this season that the Croatian hasn’t had a fairly tough draw to contend with, having had to contend with Maria Sakkari and Caroline Garcia at the United Cup, a strong quick courter in Shuai Zhang in the second round of the Australian Open and the eventual titleist last week in Lyon in Alycia Parks. Despite this, she’s looked pretty decent on court, and enters this one sporting a hold plus break percentage of over 100.

That is several points better than van Uytvanck, who has had far more simple matches along the way (ones she’s still struggled in).

The Belgian has a fairly simplistic game, based around a serve and forehand combination and not much more. Her movement is a major liability and her results are seemingly heading in the wrong direction month to month.

The matchup favours Martic as well. Not only does she have the better numbers in the aforementioned hold and break percentage, but she also has the edge in hard-court elo rating.

Her backhand slice should also prove to be very effective against her opponent in this one, as it can pull van Uytvanck in and generate some really easy, attackable balls. It also keeps the ball low and out of her opposition’s optimal strike zone.

As for the forehand, it’s a little spin-heavy for indoor hard courts, but she can also hit it effectively inside-out, allowing her to target the weaker van Uytvanck backhand.

Petra Martic vs Alison van Uytvanck Best Bet

I have Martic as the clear favourite, so getting her at or near evens, I’m glad to take a position on her to win this match.

She doesn’t appear to be in the qualifying draw for Doha next week, so I’m not overly concerned that her mind may be elsewhere entering this one either.