Petra Kvitova vs Jule Niemeier Pick – Tennis Predictions & Odds 4/27/23

Jule Niemeier and Petra Kvitova meet in the second round of the 2023 tennis Madrid Open. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.

Jule Niemeier is coming off a straight set win over Xinyu Wang that took 18 games to decide. In the victory, Niemeier won 69 percent of her first serve points and 48 percent of her second serve points. Niemeier won 62 percent of her total service points and converted on 5 of her 9 break points. Niemeier got 65 percent of her first serves in play and saved 4 of her 6 break points. Niemeier looks to win back to back matches for the first time since Cluj-Napoca in October of last year. Niemeier has 1 career win over a top-10 player, which came last year in Wimbledon. Niemeier has split her last 8 matches on clay court.

Petra Kvitova will play her first tournament since winning the Miami Open back in late March, so it will be interesting to see if there’s any potential rust. Kvitova has won 9 of her last 10 matches overall, but this will be her first match in 26 days, so there’s a bit of a layoff here. Of course, Kvitova is no stranger to Madrid, as she’s won this tournament 3 times and her 78 percent winning percentage at this event is her best winning percentage in a WTA 1000. Kvitova hasn’t lost an opening match since Toronto, back in August of last year. Kvitova has lost 6 of her last 9 matches on clay court.

Kvitova won the only match against Niemeier, which was a straight setter in 2022 St. Petersburg. The match was decided in 15 games.

I am a bit cautious with the long layoff for Kvitova, as she hasn’t played a match in nearly 4 weeks. However, Niemeier doesn’t have much success against top tier players in her career, and she hasn’t won back to back matches on the main tour since October. As long as Kvitova can serve at a decent level, she should be able to grind out an opening victory.

Give me Kvitova and the somewhat reasonable price.