Paula Badosa vs Maria Sakkari
May 1, 2023 10:00 am EDT
The Line: Maria Sakkari / Paula Badosa
(Get latest betting odds)
Paula Badosa and Maria Sakkari meet in the fourth round of the 2023 tennis Madrid Open. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.
Paula Badosa is coming off a straight set win over Coco Gauff that took 15 games to decide. In the victory, Badosa won 69 percent of her first serve points and 50 percent of her second serve points. Badosa won 64 percent of her total service points and converted on 6 of her 10 break points. Badosa got 73 percent of her first serves in play and hit 2 aces. Badosa has quietly won 9 of her last 13 matches, her best stretch of the year. Badosa has 9 career wins over top-10 players, and 1 of those wins came this year. Badosa looks for her sixth career WTA 1000 quarterfinal and second in Madrid. Badosa has won 7 of her last 9 matches on clay court.
Maria Sakkari is coming off a 3 sets win over Rebeka Masarova that took 27 games to decide. In the victory, Sakkari won 64 percent of her first serve points and 47 percent of her second serve points. Sakkari won 58 percent of her total service points and converted on 5 of her 14 break points. Sakkari got 63 percent of her first serves in play and hit 3 aces. Sakkari has now won 7 of her last 9 matches that have gone the distance. Sakkari has a chance to win 3 straight matches for the first time since Indian Wells back in March. Sakkari looks to make her 11th career WTA 1000 quarterfinal and first in Madrid. Sakkari has won 6 of her last 8 matches on clay court.
The 2 previous meetings have been split, as Badosa won 2021 Fort Worth in straight sets and Sakkari won 2022 Indian Wells in 3 sets. This will obviously be the first meeting on clay court.
You can make a case for either player, and Sakkari is probably going to be favored for obvious reasons. However, it’s Badosa who is in the better form right now, and her one-sided effort against Coco was eye-opening. Badosa has also given Sakkari trouble in the previous two meetings.
Assuming we’re getting a decent price or even plus money, I’ll side with Badosa to reach the quarters.
