Roland Garros: Garbine Muguruza vs Kristyna Pliskova preview, head-to-head & prediction | French Open 2020

Match details

Fixture: (11) Garbine Muguruza vs Kristyna Pliskova

Date: 1 October 2020

Tournament: Roland Garros 2020

Round: Second round (Round of 64)

Venue: Paris, France

Category: Grand Slam

Surface: Red clay

Prize money: Approx. €38,000,000

Match timing: Approx. 2 pm CEST, 5.30 pm IST

Live telecast: USA - NBC / Tennis Channel | India - Star Sports / Disney+ Hotstar VIP

Garbine Muguruza vs Kristyna Pliskova preview

11th seed and former champion Garbine Muguruza meets World No. 69 Kristyna Pliskova on Thursday for a place in the third round of the French Open 2020.

Having come to Paris after a semifinal appearance at the Italian Open, former World No. 1 Garbine Muguruza would have hoped to make a strong start to her Paris campaign. However, her first-round outing turned out to be a battle for survival.

She needed more than three hours to subdue the challenge of World No. 83 Tamara Zidansek, in a match that witnessed as many as 13 breaks of serve. Both women struggled visibly on their serve, but that probably had something to do with the unusually slow conditions at Roland Garros this year.

Garbine Muguruza's experience finally shone through at the end, as she held her nerve for a decisive break at 6-6 in the third set before serving out the match.

Having passed such a stern test so early in the tournament, Muguruza's confidence would undoubtedly have got a boost as she looks to continue her career resurgence.

This season has seen the Spaniard make at least the quarterfinals in six of the seven tournaments that she has entered - with her run to the Australian Open final standing out. Muguruza would be hoping to continue that momentum and make a deep run at the French Open.

Her second-round opponent, Kristyna Pliskova, has never made it into the top 30. Her career-best ranking is World No. 35, which she achieved three years ago.

Kristyna Pliskova

The twin sister of World No. 4 Karolina Pliskova, Kristyna has a dismal 8-8 win-loss record this season. She has made two semifinals but gone winless in four other tournaments, which reinforces her chronic inconsistency.

Interestingly, however, the most recent of Pliskova's two semifinals came at the Prague Open where the Czech southpaw displayed her little-known claycourt prowess. She brought the same kind of form to her first round match in Paris too.

Ripping 24 winners past rising star Viktoria Kuzmova, Pliskova soared to a 6-1, 6-2 victory on Monday. After that performance, the Czech would be raring to take on the challenge of her second-round match with Muguruza.

Garbine Muguruza vs Kristyna Pliskova head-to-head

Garbine Muguruza and Kristyna Pliskova have never faced off against each other on tour, so their head-to-head record currently stands at 0-0.

Garbine Muguruza vs Kristyna Pliskova prediction

Much like her sister, Kristyna Pliskova has an aggressive style of play. She would also likely draw inspiration from Karolina's eight wins over Garbine Muguruza.

However, the southpaw lacks the consistency of her sister - and that is exactly what Muguruza will look to capitalize on.

This match will see a lot of fiery groundstrokes from both sides, given that both women are big hitters. But if Kristyna starts leaking errors in the face of Muguruza's strong returns, the match will automatically tilt towards the Spaniard.

Prediction: Garbine Muguruza to win in straight sets.