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Match details
Fixture: (9) Paula Badosa vs Anett Kontaveit
Date: January 10, 2023
Tournament: Adelaide International 2
Round: First round (Round of 32)
Venue: Memorial Drive Tennis Centre, Adelaide, Australia
Category: WTA 500
Surface: Outdoor Hardcourt
Prize money: $826,837
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video
Paula Badosa vs Anett Kontaveit preview
Ninth seed Paula Badosa will begin her Adelaide International 2 campaign against World No. 17 Anett Kontaveit on Tuesday.
Badosa made a thunderous start to the 2022 season, winning her third career title in Sydney. The Spaniard backed it up with a run to the Round of 16 at the Australian Open.
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She had an impressive North American hardcourt swing in the spring, making the semifinals at Indian Wells, and the quarterfinals at Miami and Charleston.
However, the World No. 13 was inconsistent for the rest of the season. After a last-four finish in Stuttgart, her next notable performance was at Wimbledon, where she reached the last 16.
In her last eight events on the tour, the former Indian Wells champion reached the semifinals just once, which was in San Jose.
Badosa began her 2023 season at the United Cup. In her sole outing at the event, the 25-year-old needed three sets to prevail over Great Britain's Harriet Dart.
Kontaveit carried her sterling form from 2021 into the 2022 season, winning the title in St. Petersburg and reaching the final in Doha and the semifinals in Sydney.
However, the 27-year-old couldn't maintain her consistency for the remainder of the season. Dealing with the after-effects of the COVID-19 virus, the Estonian slumped to early defeats at multiple tournaments.
The former World No. 2 showed signs of resurgence in Hamburg and Tallinn, losing the finals at both. Kontaveit's season ended with a second-set retirement in the Round of 16 at Ostrava.
She began her 2023 season with a gritty three-set loss to Qinwen Zheng in the first round of the Adelaide International 1.
Paula Badosa vs Anett Kontaveit head-to-head
Kontaveit has a 1-0 lead in her head-to-head with Badosa. Their solitary meeting so far came at Ostrava in 2021, where the Estonian ran away to a 6-3, 6-4 win.
Paula Badosa vs Anett Kontaveit odds
(Odds will be updated once they are available)
Paula Badosa vs Anett Kontaveit prediction
This will be a mouthwatering showdown between two aggressive baseliners. Serve and unforced errors could thus make a difference.
Having landed 59% of first serves and leaked 12 double faults against Harriet Dart, Badosa needs to put up better serving numbers if she is to have any success in this match. Kontaveit has made massive improvements in second-serve returns over the last couple of years and will look to put pressure on the Spaniard right from the start.
She likes to take the ball early and put her opponents in a spot of bother with her brilliant angles and deep returns. With Badosa's second serve being a liability, the Estonian will fancy her chances of repeating her Ostrava win over the Spaniard if she can keep her unforced errors to a minimum.
Pick: Anett Kontaveit to win in three sets.
