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Match Details
Fixture: (1) Iga Swiatek vs (Q) Ajla Tomljanovic.
Date: October 5, 2022.
Tournament: AGEL Open 2022.
Round: Second round (Round of 16).
Venue: Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Category: WTA 500.
Surface: Indoor hardcourt.
Prize money: $757,900.
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video.
Iga Swiatek vs Ajla Tomljanovic preview
After a first-round bye, top seed Iga Swiatek will take on World No. 34 Ajla Tomljanovic in the second round of the 2022 AGEL Open in Ostrava.
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Swiatek has been hands down the best player on the women's tour this year. She started the year by making the semifinals of the Adelaide International and the Australian Open. Following an early loss in Dubai, the 21-year-old kicked off a 37-match winning streak.
Swiatek won six titles during this period, including the French Open. Alize Cornet was the one to put an end to her winning ways by knocking her out in the third round of Wimbledon. The Pole's results in her next three tournaments were underwhelming given her outstanding results this year.
Heading into the US Open, Swiatek was still considered one of the favorites for the title. She went on to win her third Grand Slam title in New York by defeating Ons Jabeur in the final. The World No. 1 is now competing for the first time since her US Open triumph.
Given the depth of the field in Ostrava, Ajla Tomljanovic was relegated to playing qualifiers here. She defeated Alexandra Cadantu-Ignatik and Georgina Garcia Perez to make the main draw and was up against Zhang Shuai in the first round.
Tomljanovic snagged a break to lead 3-2 in the opening set, but dropped serve immediately in the following game as Zhang leveled the score. The Australian then claimed the next three games in a row to clinch the first set. She built up a commanding 5-0 lead in the second set and it looked like the match would be over soon.
Zhang held serve for the first time in the set to make it 5-1. Tomljanovic stepped up to serve for the match after that and held three match points as well, but lost serve. The Chinese held serve once again to make it 5-3 and put the pressure back on the 29-year-old.
Tomljanovic didn't falter this time and closed out the proceedings on her second attempt to win the match 6-3, 6-3.
Iga Swiatek vs Ajla Tomljanovic head-to-head
Swiatek leads Tomljanovic 2-0 in the head-to-head. She won their most recent encounter at the 2022 Canadian Open in straight sets.
Iga Swiatek vs Ajla Tomljanovic odds
(All odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Iga Swiatek vs Ajla Tomljanovic prediction
Tomljanovic looked quite sharp during her first-round contest against Zhang, but had a minor stumble while closing out the match. It's quite common for her to tighten up during crunch time, but she hasn't completely gone off the rails like before.
Swiatek scored a dominant win over Tomljanovic during their previous encounter in Canada a few weeks ago. She was able to dominate the Australian during her return games, and especially crushed her second serve. The 29-year-old will need to defend her serve better this time around.
Swiatek, too, can be vulnerable on serve at times. Tomljanovic will need to go in for the kill if she senses the Pole having an off day on serve. But considering how the World No. 1 has played this year, she should have no problem coming out on top.
Pick: Iga Swiatek to win in straight sets.
