Yulia Putintseva vs Anhelina Kalinina Prediction, Odds, Stats, Form, H2H, 3/25/24

Our first article of the week will be our Putintseva vs Kalinina prediction. We’re still at the Miami Open as the final week of the Sunshine Double is upon us. This WTA clash may not be the highest profile on the docket, but there is some value to exploit. Putintseva’s win probability is 50.5, with Kalinina favored to win at 1.91 odds. The handicap is zero games and the total games line is 22.5.

For more daily tennis tips, visit the bettingexpert community, but if you want more expert tips from Jon Reid, visit our Expert Insights section.

Putintseva vs Kalinina Prediction: Kalinina to End Impressive Putintseva Run

• Prediction: Kalinina to win
• Best Odds: 1.91
• Bookmaker: Bet365
• Stakes: 3/10

Odds as of 2:45 am UK Time on March 25th, 2024. Odds may now differ.

The madness has to end soon. I may have been duped by Ludmilla Samsonova, who put up the worst serving display in the first set I’ve seen from her in a long time, but I just refuse to believe that Putintseva can keep pushing balls back centrally in the court without someone finding a way to hit back through her.

These are not the slow courts of Indian Wells. They’re not playing on clay. Surely defeat is coming. Enter Kalinina, a tall player, who doesn’t have an overwhelming serve. She doesn’t crush the ball but also doesn’t make a boatload of mistakes. Finally, she works the court so well and hits a flat ball, which are strong offensive tactics in themselves.

At a price that implies this is a dead-even matchup, I’ll back the player with a bit more pop, who can still play consistently and who works the outer thirds of the court more effectively.

Yulia Putintseva Recent Form

The always-fiery 29-year-old has found a purple patch in form in recent times, with three wins in Indian Wells to match her trio of victories so far in Miami.

Granted, she’s just gotten by in all three this week, failing to cover the handicap as a favorite against both Greet Minnen and Cristina Bucsa, needing three sets in each, and being fortunate enough to draw against the worst iteration of Samsonova on serve I’ve seen in some time.

Nevertheless, those kinds of ugly matches where errors are plentiful are where she thrives, since she’s so solid. Sure, she may lose a set where her opponent finds their rhythm and hits her off the court, but she’s never going to give in and keep making them play as many balls as possible.

Much like players that lack dynamism on the other end of the spectrum (think Camila Giorgi), that isn’t the best recipe for sustainable success.

With an opponent who should be well-poised to deal with her consistency, but who can also produce offense in her own way, this could be the end of the line for Putintseva at the Sunshine Double.

Anhelina Kalinina Recent Form

Talk about someone who really needed a nice run of form, Kalinina was having a horrendous start to her 2024 campaign prior to reaching the American hard court swing.

Not only was she just 2-6 before playing in Austin, Texas, but she had been bullied around the court in the vast majority of those defeats.

Now, she’s managed to win five of her last seven contests, including her third-round win against Aryna Sabalenka (though how much that means at the moment with Sabalenka’s own form is up for debate).

Though her serve may not be as powerful as you’d expect for someone of her stature, she counterpunches well, hits both shots down the line superbly, can strike the ball early and flat to take time away from opponents, and certainly has the rally tolerance to deal with more pesky opposition like Putintseva.

With this section of the draw completely blown open, this is a great chance for a 1000-level quarterfinal appearance for Kalinina. That would go a long way in restoring her ranking to the top 25 or top 30 once more.

Yulia Putintseva vs Anhelina Kalinina H2H – Stat of the Match

These two have split their two previous meetings in a true professional format 1-1. I say that, because Putintseva won 10 years ago in an ITF qualifying match on clay, but that was in a match tiebreak (where they play to 10 points and win by two, rather than a whole third set).

Even the other two matches took place in 2021 and 2022 and neither of them was on a hard court. Tough to put much stock into those.

Elo rating-wise, Kalinina trails by fewer than 10 points, despite the aforementioned struggles that she appears to be working through and may have put in her rearview mirror.

Safer Gambling

At bettingexpert, we always take a safe approach to gambling. We’ll never bet more than we can afford or chase losses. For more advice, head to our Safer Gambling hub.