Sloane Stephens vs Anhelina Kalinina National Bank Open Preview and Expert Tip: Oppose Uncertainty Around Ukrainian’s Health

Sloane Stephens vs Anhelina Kalinina (National Bank Open): Monday, August 7th

A pair of wins on Friday, as Maria Sakkari brings home Thursday’s tip after it was postponed due to rain, while Linda Noskova cruised to victory against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in Prague to wrap up the week.

Monday sees the National Bank Open kick off in Canada’s two most populous cities, with the WTA side of things taking place in Montreal, while the men play in Toronto. It’s the start of a big stretch for tennis in North America, with another Masters event in Cincinnati and the U.S. Open just around the corner!

For our women’s preview to kick off the week, let’s look at Sloane Stephens vs Anhelina Kalinina

Sloane Stephens vs Anhelina Kalinina Expert Tip

Despite a disappointing loss for the American to her countrywoman Lauren Davis in Washington, it’s worth noting Davis’ form is much better than Kalinina’s of late, and Stephens did have a slew of set points in the opener before losing it, while winning the second.

I’m happy to back her here, especially with potential fitness concerns around Kalinina at the moment.

Read on for more expert insights.

• Expert Tip: Stephens to win at 1.67 with Unibet, using 3/10 stakes.

Sloane Stephens Recent Form

As mentioned above, the loss in Washington wasn’t one Stephens will be pleased with. It is worth noting how well Davis played in that match though, and how close Stephens was to potentially taking that match in straight sets.

Her game is very well-rounded, with a decent serve, strong forehand, no glaring weakness from the baseline and the ability to pressure her opponent’s serve consistently. The footwork continues to be the most obvious area for improvement, but it was no fluke that Stephens won a grand slam and made the final of another.

She’s had a tough time the last few years maintaining a consistently high level, but that quality is undoubtedly there in her game. We’ve also seen some signs this year that Stephens may be able to make a return to the world’s top-25. She isn’t there yet, but has won a WTA 125K, made the semifinals of a 250 and the second week at Roland Garros.

Anhelina Kalinina Recent Form

It’s been tough sledding for Kalinina since her shock run to the final in Rome.

Having a relatively flat hitting style and preferring pace to counterpunch, clay and slower conditions haven’t exactly been her bread and butter in the past. That final ended abruptly as well, when Kalinina had to retire with an injury against Elena Rybakina. She hasn’t looked the same since, either.

She’s just 3-6 since that match, with no real significant wins and five of the six losses coming by a margin of five games or more. That is….not good.

Just last week, she won just three games against Jennifer Brady, someone who has played a handful of matches in the last several years.

I have my suspicions there is still something bothering her physically and she’s toughing it out at some of these bigger events.

Sloane Stephens vs Anhelina Kalinina H2H – Stat of the Match

These two have played twice before, splitting the matches 1-1.

Statistically, instead of focusing on one particular metric, it’s more the decline across the board from Kalinina I want to zone in on.

Since May 29th (after her retirement in Rome), Kalinina has seen a reduction in how many first serves she’s putting in, how many of those points she’s winning, her second serve points won and a dramatic 6% reduction in her points won on return.

That kind of form should be seeing a bigger adjustment from the market when pricing her matches and it simply hasn’t occurred yet.

Odds as at 5:30 am UK Time on August 7th, 2023. Odds may now differ.

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