Italian Open 2020: Victoria Azarenka vs Garbine Muguruza Preview, Head-to-Head, Prediction

Talking about the performance in the tournament so far, no one can forget the embarrassment inflicted by Azarenka on defending Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, double-bageling her in the second round. The 31-year old Belarusian’s next opponent was Daria Kasatkina and the match was deadlocked at 6-6, when Kasatkina retired from the contest after injuring herself while chasing for a drop shot.

On the other hand, 9th-seed Muguruza, after defeating Coco Gauff in Round of 32 in a pulsating contest, she was up against 7th-seed Johanna Konta and the match was expected to go down to the wire. However, the 26-year old Spaniard made a mockery out of the contest as she sailed past Konta in straight sets 6-4, 6-1, reaffirming her love for clay surface.

The two women have faced each other on three occasions prior to their match in Rome. Azarenka leads the head-to-head record 2-1. Their laat meeting came last year at the same place. However, in 2019, it was a Round of 16 encounter, where Azarenka was leading 6-4, 3-1 before Muguruza retired from the contest.

As evident, Azarenka has received walkover in third round in Rome for successive years. Having said that, it does not take away the fact that the form she is in currently, it’s difficult to look behind her. The match has all the ingredients for it to become an edge-of-a-seat thriller but Muguruza ending on the winning side is less lovely to happen.

Match Prediction: Victoria Azarenka defeats Garbine Muguruza in a nail-biting encounter that is destined to go to the distance.

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