Clear number for the aggressive Pole?

Shortly after the draw of the tournament tree of the 110th women’s singles of the Australian Open, some experts expected Iga Swiatek to prevail in the seventh section. But the fact that the winner in the eighth section would not be Aryna Sabalenka or Angelique Kerber, but Kaia Kanepi, the athlete who defeated both women, is truly a surprise.

After all, the 36-year-old Estonian has never even reached the last 16 in Down Under before. She is also a heavy underdog now, as the odds are clearly in favour of Iga Swiatek against Kaia Kanepi at the

Iga Swiatek is only 20 years young. However, the world number nine already has one Grand Slam title ahead of her Estonian opponent, who began her professional career on the WTA Tour the same year the Pole was born. In 2020, she prevailed at the French Open. In view of her strong performances at the Australian Open 2022, there is much to suggest that she will make short work of the Estonian surprise player.

Accordingly, there is a lot of value in betting on the Asian handicap of -5.5 games for Iga Swiatek against Kaia Kanepi. By the way, this bet can also be replayed as a free bet.

Iga Swiatek – Statistics & current form

Current ranking in the World Ranking: 9
Position in the seedings: 7

The 20-year-old Pole Iga Swiatek has only been a part of the WTA Tour since 2019, but she has been able to make her mark at the top of the world rankings in a very short time. In 2020, she moved into the top 20 of the WTA world rankings for the first time with her surprising overall victory at the French Open.

With two more tournament wins in 2021 – including another major title at the Italian Open – she even climbed into the top 10 last season and was allowed to participate in the WTA Finals.

Won eleven of the 14 singles at the Australian Open

Now, the Pole, whose aggressive attacking game is not locked to any particular surface, wants to attack again in 2022 and reach for the stars Down Under for the first time.

The 20-year-old has already reached the second week of the tournament at the Australian Open in the last two years. With her four wins on the way to her first quarter-final at the first Grand Slam tournament of the calendar year, the world ninth-ranked player has now increased her tally at Melbourne Park to eleven wins from 14 singles matches. That equates to a win percentage of 78.5%.

Swiatek fended off a total of eight break points in the round of 16

Swiatek entered the round of 16 with three unchallenged 2-0 wins before she had to stretch herself for the first time. Against Sorana Cîrstea, she allowed a total of twelve break points, also due to a weak second serve, which only brought her the point in nine of 38 cases (24%), but she managed to fend off eight of them with her razor-sharp precision.

If she can return to serve in the quarter-finals and not get into unnecessary trouble, there is little to stop her from reaching the semi-finals. Iga Swiatek’s chances against Kaia Kanepi are correspondingly favourable, as she will again be much more dominant in this match.

Kaia Kanepi – Statistics & current form

Current ranking in the world ranking: 115
Seeded position: unseeded

The 36-year-old Estonian Kaia Kanepi began her career on the WTA Tour as early as 2001, but she only made her first noticeable appearance in 2006, when she managed to enter the top 100 of the WTA world rankings.

In 2007, Kanepi qualified for the women’s singles at the Australian Open for the first time, in which she is currently participating for the 13th time in her career. However, the Estonian tennis player only managed to win ten of her 22 singles matches in the run-up to the Australian Open 2022.

Seventh time in a Grand Slam quarter-final

This year, however, it’s all different as Kaia Kanepi stormed into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open for the first time in her career with four more wins Down Under. A round she has already reached at the other three Grand Slam tournaments, but never before at Melbourne Park.

The Estonian is now facing her seventh Grand Slam quarter-final against Iga Swiatek. Until now, the 36-year-old has always reached the last round. The last time was at the US Open in 2017.

Kanepi impressed with a high score on her second serve

However, the supposed underdog has nothing to lose. Already in the round of 16, nobody really expected her to win against the number two seed, Aryna Sabalenka. Nevertheless, she fought her way back from a 1-0 deficit to win 2-1 despite a first serve that found its way into the court in just 52 of all 106 cases (49%).

Part of the recipe for success was Kanepi’s strong second serve, which won her the point in 32 of 54 cases (59%). Nevertheless, the world number 115 remains the underdog against the Polish Grand Slam winner.

Iga Swiatek – Kaia Kanepi Direct comparison / H2H record

Head to head: 0:0

Never before have both ladies faced each other in a rated tennis singles match. Accordingly, no head to head data is available to factor into the prediction for Iga Swiatek vs. Kaia Kanepi

Poland Iga Swiatek – Kaia Kanepi Tip

In principle, everything is set for a clear victory for the Pole, who, especially against opponents like Kaia Kanepi, who offer a lot on her own serve, usually knows how to make things clear early on with her aggressive, but at the same time almost surgically precise game. Recently, however, Iga Swiatek’s serve also failed a little, which put her in a tough spot in the round of 16.

Nevertheless, the world number nine should have few problems against the Estonian outsider if she can get her service back on court in her usual form. There is a lot to be said for the 36-year-old not having a chance of making it past the Grand Slam quarter-finals at her seventh attempt.

We are therefore betting on a victory for the Pole with an Asian handicap of -5.5 games, for which betting odds of 2.37 are available for Iga Swiatek against Kaia Kanepi.