tennis | Tuesday, August 30, 2022 8:15 AM

Tuesday Tennis Best Bet: US Open Women, Bernarda Pera vs Anhelina Kalinina

Jon Reid

Bernarda Pera vs Anhelina Kalinina Best Bet: Tuesday, August 30th

The first round is set to wrap up with another slew of matches from New York City on Tuesday.

For our women’s selection, it’s a match between Bernard Pera and Anhelina Kalinina that has piqued my interest.

In this article:

Bernarda Pera vs Anhelina Kalinina Preview
Bernarda Pera vs Anhelina Kalinina Best Bet

Bernarda Pera vs Anhelina Kalinina Preview

August 30th, Time TBD

Talk about two players on divergent paths at the moment. Outside of a loss to an absolutely red-hot Ludmilla Samsonova in Cleveland, Pera has been nearly unstoppable over her last several events.

Now 19-2 since early July, Pera is one of the most in-form players on the WTA Tour. While many players have focused on trying to get into the biggest events their ranking would allow, Pera elected to play some WTA 125K and 250 events and it paid dividends, as the volume of matches allowed her to build rhythm and sustain play at her best level – something she’s long struggled with.

Equipped with a strong serve and massive groundstrokes, Pera can hit with almost anyone on tour, and is more than capable of punishing balls left short or passive shots from her opposition. The consistency and solidity from the baseline had long been her problem, but her stretch spanning Budapest (clay), Hamburg (clay), Concord (hard) and Cleveland (hard) has helped rectify that. When her game is clicking, she’s an extremely tough out.

On the other side of the equation, outside of a pair of wins in Cincinnati qualifying, Kalinina has been pretty poor since Wimbledon.

Not only did she amass losses, most of them weren’t particularly close. She won a total of two games against Elise Mertens in the Cincinnati main draw, one game against Coco Gauff in San Jose, six games against Jelena Ostapenko in Toronto and she even lost by a six-game margin to clay courter Laura Siegemund in Cleveland. Something is clearly askew with her game, and I’m more than happy to play the handicap with the American.

Bernarda Pera vs Anhelina Kalinina Best Bet

Pera’s form alone would likely justify taking a position with a handicap below five games. With Kalinina’s form also being poor and the fact that when she loses, she’s been getting blown out, it makes giving up a 4.5-game head start even more palatable.