Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the WTA Madrid match.
One of the standout young talents of the early season, Mirra Andreeva, now knows her second-round opponent at the WTA 1000 clay-court event in Madrid: Czech player Marie Bouzkova.
Mirra Andreeva
After a sensational run through February and March—during which Mirra Andreeva captured consecutive WTA 1000 titles in Dubai and Indian Wells—the 17-year-old has seen a slight dip in form. At the WTA 1000 event in Miami, she was eliminated in the round of 32 after a three-set loss to Amanda Anisimova (6:7, 6:2, 3:6). Just last week in Stuttgart, the world No. 7 was beaten in her second match by fellow Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova (3:6, 2:6).
Marie Bouzkova
In contrast, Marie Bouzkova has had a less consistent season, posting a record of nine wins and seven losses overall, including two qualifying victories in Adelaide back in January. However, she was unable to progress past the first round of the main draw there, falling to world No. 26 Liudmila Samsonova. Her best result so far this year came at the Bogotá WTA 250 event, where she reached the quarter-finals.
Mirra Andreeva vs Marie Bouzkova Prediction
In the opening round in Madrid, world No. 58 Maria Bouzkova defeated Mexico’s Renata Zarazua, ranked 67th (6:2, 4:6, 6:1). As for previous encounters with Mirra Andreeva, the pair met for the first time earlier this year in the opening round of the Australian Open. On that occasion, the then-world No. 14 from Russia secured a straight-sets victory (6:3, 6:3). Given the surface and current form, a similar result seems likely on the Madrid clay.
