Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the Australian Open match.
Yulia Putintseva will aim to reach the Round of 16 at the Australian Open for the first time since 2021. The Kazakhstani player is in excellent form and has already impressed with her play at the start of the tournament. However, she faces a stern test against Daria Kasatkina. The Russian has never progressed beyond this stage in Melbourne but has a chance to break that pattern.
Yulia Putintseva
In 2025, Yulia recorded six wins against two losses. She confidently dispatched Zhang Shuai (6:2, 6:1), who ranks only 204th in the world, at the start of the tournament in Melbourne and claimed a hard-fought, come-from-behind victory over the WTA No. 41 Elina Avanesyan (4:6, 7:5, 6:2). Notably, this season, Putintseva has already faced top opponents like Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula, taking those matches to over 22 games. Since 2024, Putintseva has had 17 losses on hard courts, with more than 22 games in 14 of those matches.
Daria Kasatkina
The Russian started the tournament strongly, leaving no chance for Viktoriya Tomova (6:1, 6:3) and Wang Yafan (6:2, 6:0), who aren't even in the top 50 rankings. In 2025, her record stands at five wins and two losses. However, she tends toward lengthy matches against peers of similar level: in six of her previous nine encounters with top-50 players on hard courts, the total exceeded 23 games. On hard courts, Kasatkina beat Putintseva in October last year, with the match stretching to three sets (6:4, 1:6, 7:6).
Yulia Putintseva vs Daria Kasatkina Prediction
Both players prefer lengthy rallies and excel in defence, ensuring an intense contest. In their last two head-to-head encounters, they consistently played three sets. Considering that both are in good form, the match is likely to be prolonged. Therefore, we are backing a total over.
