Emma Raducanu played her last match last year before a triple surgery at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, and one year later, she'll return to face Angelique Kerber at the event.
This is a pretty interesting matchup on paper. It will mark Raducanu's return to the WTA 500 event, where she played last before undergoing triple surgery. That triple surgery saw her miss much of last year, and her comeback happened earlier this year.
It won't be her first match back on clay because she played two recently in France in the Billie Jean King Cup. She won both of those, so she'll arrive in Stuttgart in pretty high spirits and with good momentum.
The same can't be said for Kerber who has been playing below her previous level so far this year. The German scored only four wins this year, and three of them were at the Indian Wells Open. For her, clay has been a solid surface historically, and Stuttgart is a home event, so anything can happen.
Head-to-head:
Raducanu and Kerber never played against each other, which isn't a huge surprise because they both missed a lot of time last year. The style of play should make it interesting because the Brit is generally an aggressive baseliner, the type of player that Kerber has historically played well against.
She's not as quick as she was in years past, and Stuttgart is certainly unique when it comes to conditions, so this could go either way. Raducanu has better momentum right now, so technically, she should be favored in this match.
| Emma Raducanu | Angelique Kerber | |
| 0 | H2H | 0 |
| 302 | Rank | 333 |
| 21 | Age | 36 |
| 7-5 | 2024 W/L | 4-8 |
| 105-54 | Career W/L | 677-371 |
Prediction:
After seeing how Raducanu performed in the Billie Jean King Cup, I favor her to win this matchup. She is playing better tennis right now, and the conditions in Stuttgart should certainly be to her liking. She's also played there a couple of times, which should add to her comfort level.
Prediction: Emma Raducanu to win in two sets.
0 Comments