Betting odds, Tennis Tip & Prediction for Paula Badosa – Angelique Kerber
Six months ago she was advised to end her career, now suddenly on her way back to the top of the world! Angelique Kerber is having a more than impressive year in 2021. She could now crown this upswing with the title in Indian Wells.
The women have reached the quarter-finals – and the German is now the top favourite. Why? Quite simply because all the players ahead of her in the world rankings are already out! One of the reasons for this was her next opponent.
Paula Badosa is the name of the woman who wants to stop Kerber. The Spaniard, born in New York, is ranked 27th in the world and is slowly becoming part of the extended world elite. Nevertheless, nobody had her on their radar in Indian Wells.
No wonder, because when she competed here for the first time in 2019, she failed directly in the first round of qualifying. Now Badosa is one of the eight best players in this tournament and quite rightly so.
She still had slight problems against Dajana Yastremska from Ukraine at 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.
However, anyone who then wins 6-2, 6-2 against the American prodigy Cori Gauff definitely has to be on the cards. An even bigger win was to follow, against French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova
6-1, 7-5 – the Czech, seeded third, had no chance. At 6-foot-3, she’s a good deal taller than Kerber, and she seems to be able to take advantage of that on serve.
So it’s noticeable that she gets significantly more points on the first serve than the German. On average, it’s 75%, while Kerber’s score remains below the 60 mark. A decisive advantage? Incidentally, the two have never played against each other.
Badosa has been known for turbulent tournaments in recent weeks. She retired early at the US Open, but before that in Cincinnati she had beaten Aryna Sabalenka and Yelena Rybakina
However, after her quarter-final exit against Karolina Pliskova, it may well be that she just wasn’t 100% fit in New York. In her current match against Angelique Kerber, however, she is listed as the favourite.
And this despite the fact that according to the world rankings, the player from Kiel is the best remaining player in the tournament? “I don’t think I was the top favourite at the beginning of the tournament, and I don’t think I’m the top favourite here either,” she said.
Kerber started the Masters with a 6-1, 5-7, 7-5 win over Katerina Siniakova, and she also made things unnecessarily tense in the following 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 win over Daria Kasatkina. She eventually beat Ajla Tomljanovic in the round of 16 without any major problems.
6-4, 6-1 – it’s looking good for Kerber to have another very successful showing after reaching the final in 2019. She has had one slip-up in recent months, but otherwise has been consistently convincing.
She seems to have digested her first-round exit in Ostrava well. If we take a look at the opponents she has not been able to defeat in the past weeks, we notice: Twice Ashleigh Barty and Leylah Fernandez – not bad!
Should Kerber progress against Badosa, either Anett Kontaveit or Ons Jabeur would be waiting in the semi-finals. It’s also clear that her fearsome opponent Victoria Azarenka, should she progress, can only appear on the scene in the final.
In my Badosa Kerber tip, the tournament so far has shown how strong the Spaniard is at the moment. Of course, Kerber has also played well, but whoever beats Gori Cauff and Barbora Krejcikova outright is probably rightly favoured.
Moreover, Badosa has a clear advantage when it comes to her own service game. Although Kerber has struggled in all three rounds of her matches, I fear she will find this much harder against Badosa.
Her wins against Gauff and Krejcikova made too much of a lasting impression on me, which is why I can’t believe in a happy ending for Kerber from a German perspective.
