WTA Qatar Open: Victoria Azarenka vs Laura Siegemund 3/3/2021 Tennis Prediction

Eighth seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus faces unseeded German Laura Siegemund in the Round of 16 at the 2021 Qatar Open WTA Event in Doha. The match is scheduled to be played on Wednesday March 3rd, 2021 at 7:30am EST. They have played each other once before with Siegemund winning on that occasion. Can she cause the upset and win again?

Laura Siegemund is currently ranked #56 in the world, but has been as high as #27 a couple years ago. She was very impressive in her opening round upset win over Elena Rybakina, winning 7-6, 7-6, getting a victory that not many would have predicted. She is a very solid all around player who can transition well from defense to offense. She enters this match as the underdog on paper but will no doubt be playing with a new sense of confidence after her big win here. If she serves well she will be in with a chance of yet another upset. 

Victoria Azarenka is currently ranked #14 and is a former world number one. She had an outstanding year in 2020 but has largely failed to replicate that success so far in 2021, only winning one match thus far. After a very disappointing Australian Open campaign where she lost in the First Round to Jessica Pegula she will be desperate for a strong showing here in Doha to get her 2021 season back on track and re-establish herself as one of the world’s best. She was outstanding in her First Round win over Svetlana Kuznetsova and will be hoping to carry some of that momentum into this tricky encounter. 

Usually this would be a straightforward win for the Belarusian, but she has struggled lately while her opponent has suddenly hit a rich vein of form. Azarenka also looked good in her previous match but serious doubts remain over her match fitness. Despite this, I think that she can dig deep and use her vast experience to pull through here. Siegemund is looking confident and will give her a run for her money, but expect Azarenka to get the victory.