Jessica Pegula and Camila Giorgi will meet on Tuesday, August 17, in the opening round of WTA Cincinnati 2021. It will mark the third meeting of their careers and their first since Sunday, August 15, when Giorgi beat Pegula 2-1 in the semi-final of the 2021 National Bank Open and will look to emulate that success today.
Jessica Pegula vs Camila Giorgi
When: Tuesday, August 17 – 15:30 EDT
Where: Lindner Family Tennis Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, US
Weather: Scattered thunderstorms, 26°C
Jessica Pegula and Camila Giorgi have met three times across the last nine years, and the current head-to-head record shows 2-1 in favour of Pegula. However, it’s important to note that Pegula won in 2019 and 2012, while Giorgi claimed her victory this year.
In fact, Giorgi’s win over Pegula happened just a few days ago. The two met in the semi-final of the WTA Montreal when the Italian player won 2-1. She then went on to win the title, grabbing her first silverware since 2018.
Can she do it again? Or maybe the fatigue from playing in Canada is going to be too much for Giorgi? Let’s find out!
Rested Pegula Wants Revenge
Pegula’s most recent match happened against Giorgi on Saturday, meaning that she has had enough time to rest and prepare for their second duel of 2021. At the very least, she has had more time to rest than Giorgi, which is a plus.
Pegula lost the match mentioned above 1-2 (6-3,3-6,1-6), which was an expected result. Even though Pegula is ranked higher than Giorgi in the WTA Rankings (#30 and #71 respectively), she entered that match as an underdog.
The reason? Pegula was very tired since she had to play four three-setters before that match. Meanwhile, her opponent won four games in straight sets.
Another reason working in Pegula’s favour is that she’s been excellent on the hard courts this year. Her record on this surface is 21-8, while her overall record is 32-12. However, she did lose four matches since the start of the summer. That includes a loss against Belinda Bencic in the opening round of the Olympic tournament.
Giorgi Must be Jaded Right Now
It’s been less than 48 hours since Camila Giorgi last played a match. She played Karolina Pliskova in the final of the WTA Montreal, where she won 2-0 (6-3,7-5). Shortly after celebrating her first title in three years, she had to pack her bags and fly over to Cincinnati.
With that in mind, Giorgi probably didn’t have too much time to rest, which could cause severe problems to the 29-year-old Italian.
The good news for Giorgi is that she’s been playing great tennis over the last couple of weeks. Apart from winning the WTA Montreal, she also did reasonably well at the Tokyo Olympics, where she reached the quarter-final.
Same as Pegula, Giorgi has also been terrific on the hardcourt, winning 10 of her 14 matches this year. Meanwhile, her overall record in 2021 is 20-11.
Jessica Pegula vs Camila Giorgi Betting Pick
We see Jessica Pegula as a clear favourite for this match. Despite her recent slip-ups, she should be in much better shape than Giorgi, who should feel fatigued. What’s more, Pegula is an elite player and has numbers to back those claims up.
Even though you could argue that, like Giorgi, Pegula won’t be fully rested for this bout, she has proven before that demanding schedules don’t affect her that much. If we go way back to March, Pegula played seven games in Doha yet still made it to the quarter-finals in Dubai.
Prediction: Jessica Pegula to win – 1.90 at Bet365
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