Leylah Fernandez vs Emma Navarro Guadalajara Open AKRON Expert Tip: Fernandez to Continue Building Momentum

Leylah Fernandez vs Emma Navarro (Guadalajara Open AKRON): Wednesday, September 20th

Took far too long for Ekaterina Alexandrova to get things going on Tuesday on return and even once she did, she managed to blow the win and the void on the handicap from 7-6, 5-2 up.

Onto Wednesday in Guadalajara, as the WTA is down to the final 16 at the Guadalajara Open AKRON. Let’s break down Leylah Fernandez vs Emma Navarro from the Wednesday slate!

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In this article:

• Leylah Fernandez vs Emma Navarro Expert Tip
• Leylah Fernandez Recent Form
• Emma Navarro Recent Form
• Leylah Fernandez vs Emma Navarro H2H Stat of the Match
• Gamble Responsibly

Leylah Fernandez vs Emma Navarro Expert Tip

A few reasons to really like the Montreal native in this contest. For starters, her game is far more well-rounded for me than Navarro’s. She’s not the biggest hitter, nor the most imposing figure on the court, but she certainly packs more punch than one may expect from her and her doubles success this season has led to a more dimensional game of late.

Then there’s the fact that I think she looked much better in her opening match than Navarro, despite the latter’s 6-0 first set. One match samples are tough to judge, but it’s all we have to go on in these tricky altitude conditions. For me, Fernandez didn’t have nearly as much trouble keeping the ball in the court as the match went on.

Finally, I’m not usually one to buy into narratives, but for one reason or another, the hard courts in the Americas have always been where Fernandez has found the most success. She has titles in Monterrey, Mexico (also played at altitude) and a few other nice results on her home continent in the past.

• Expert Tip: Fernandez to win at 1.91 with Bet365, using 3/10 stakes.

Odds as at 12:00 pm UK Time on September th, 2023. Odds may now differ.

Read on for more expert insights.

Leylah Fernandez Recent Form

It hasn’t been a cakewalk for Fernandez in singles by any stretch in 2023. She’s kind of stuck in that rankings range where you can get into plenty of WTA Tour tournaments, but you’re not nearly highly ranked enough to ensure you aren’t dealt a tough draw right off the hop.

We’ve seen her lose in the first or second round this year to a slew of top-20 players this year from the Australian Open, to Indian Wells, to Miami. She was also dealt that misfortune in Dubai, at Wimbledon, Washington, the U.S. Open and San Diego. Those are also many of the events that deal out the most rankings points on the schedule.

Tough to build form when you’re seeing the likes of Iga Swiatek or Beatriz Haddad Maia or Ekaterina Alexandrova on the other side of the net week-in, week-out.

Now in Guadalajara where the field quality was diluted by a spate of withdrawals, Fernandez has a chance to really pick up some points and potentially momentum heading into the latter portion of the calendar to try and ensure to start her 2024 campaign she’s seeded at more events and not dealt the toughest assignments early on in singles draws.

In conditions she’s clearly just fine playing in and where her groundstrokes play up (her forehand was easily the biggest shot on the court against Elise Mertens), I expect her to do just that.

Emma Navarro Recent Form

The 22-year-old former collegiate player in the NCAA system has taken a different approach from Fernandez trying to build her ranking in 2023 and it’s worked wonders. The rare American who probably prefers clay to hard courts, Navarro has won a slew of ITF titles this year and made deep runs at a few more, as well as a WTA 125K tournament, a 250 in Strasbourg the week before the French Open and most recently, the semis in San Diego, where she beat the struggling Maria Sakkari.

It hasn’t been the most glamorous route to the top-50, but it’s gotten her to her career-high ranking nonetheless.

The only concern I’d have would be the fact that it’s tough to find many strong hard court wins this summer outside of Sakkari and her last round against Madison Keys – who is always vulnerable in conditions that tend to create a lot of unforced errors like altitude.

She’s a solid counterpuncher and has an incredibly impressive backhand, but we’ve seen her game actually become more erratic as the match has worn on in each of the opening two rounds, which is a major concern for me with how steady Fernandez can be when she gets her rhythm in a match.

Leylah Fernandez vs Emma Navarro H2H – Stat of the Match

This is knotted up at one match apiece, with Fernandez clobbering her American counterpart this season back in Indian Wells and Navarro evening the score in Cincinnati in a three setter.

There was an exhibition match during the pandemic a few years back, but Navarro is a much better player now and that wasn’t a professionally sanctioned match and shouldn’t really be considered.

I like the way Fernandez matches up in this one, with her forehand playing crosscourt against Navarro’s stronger backhand as a lefty and with her ability to work the ball around the court. That should force Navarro into more defending and less counterpunching and redirection of pace.

Finally, I do think the times each woman finished their matches on Tuesday could come into play in this one. Fernandez was off the court early in the evening in Guadalajara, while Navarro was out on court into the night. They don’t play all that early on Wednesday, but after each was finished with recovery and back at the hotel and able to sleep, one would have to imagine Navarro may fatigue a touch sooner than Fernandez in this one.

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