Heather Watson and Kaja Juvan will clash on Monday, August 30, in the first round of the 2021 US Open. It will mark Watson’s ninth appearance at the US Open, where she has never made it past R1, and her first meeting with Juvan in her professional career.
Heather Watson vs Kaja Juvan
When: Monday, August 30 – 15:00 EDT
Where: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York
Weather: Cloudy, 28°C
Oddsmakers can’t seem to come to an agreement on who should be the favourite for this match – Heather Watson or Kaja Juvan. At Bet365, Watson is the favorite, while she’s the underdog at Unibet. What do we think? Keep reading to find out!
Heather Watson Looking to Improve on Her US Open Stats
Watson lost seven of her previous 11 matches, which could make one think of her as an out-of-form player. However, she wasn’t too horrible in any of those matches. She either had to face tough opponents or had some problems with fitness.
In her most recent match (at WTA Chicago), Watson had to retire after only 51 minutes. She lost the first set to Ana Bogdan, then decided to walk off after going 1-0 down in the second set. However, her move seemed more like a precautionary withdrawal than anything else.
Another thing going in Watson’s favour is that she did really well at the WTA Cincinnati. We saw her beating Katie Volynets, Rebecca Peterson, and Aliaksandra Sasnovich in Cincy. She did lose to Ash Barty, but Watson gave the world #1 a run for her money.
Barty won in straight sets, but Watson won four games in the first set and took the second to a tiebreaker, which the Australian tennis star won with 7-3.
Watson’s performance against the best female tennis player on the planet certainly gave her confidence to do well at the US Open. She also has motivation on her side, having never gone past the first round of the American Grand Slam tourney.
Kaja Juvan Keeps Failing to Impress
The 2018-19 season was when everyone thought Kaja Juvan was the next big thing in women’s tennis. She looked excellent back then, but her performances have dipped since. Juvan’s 2021 record is 14-13, with four defeats coming from her last five outings.
Another problem for Juvan ahead of the clash with Watson is that she hasn’t played too many matches on the hardcourt, especially not in the last couple of months. In fact, before the 2-0 loss to Daria Kasatkina at WTA Cleveland precisely one week ago, Juvan hadn’t played a single hardcourt match for more than five months.
Speaking of the hard courts, the surface isn’t Juvan’s favourite. In fact, she ended each of her previous five professional seasons with a negative record on this surface. 2020 was Juvan’s best hardcourt season, having finished the year with a 7-7 record.
Heather Watson vs Kaja Juvan Betting Pick
Oddsmakers think this is going to be a close match, and we have to agree. It’s going to be tough, but we believe Watson will get a win eventually. Not only is she playing better tennis than Juvan, but she also likes the hardcourt more than her opponent.
Prediction: Heather Watson – 2.13 at Pinnacle
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