French Open 2021: Victoria Azarenka vs Madison Keys Preview, Head to Head and Prediction for Roland Garros

Fifteenth seed Victoria Azarenka will take on Madison Keys in the third round of the French Open 2021.

Victoria Azarenka, who was the runners-up of the 2020 season of the U.S Open, has had a tough start in the Roland Garros 2021, but she has somehow managed to escape defeat in the first and second rounds. She will be up against twenty-third seed Madison Keys on Friday.

Match Details:

Victoria Azarenka vs Madison Keys: Preview

Two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka has not been in great form in recent times. She has had little to no practice on the clay court. Moreover, Madison Keys has moved around quite well this season. Needless to say, Azarenka would have to be at her absolute best to knock Keys out of the Roland Garros.

Victoria Azarenka had a tough start to the tournament as she was taken to the third and final set by Svetlana Kuznetsova in the first round of the tournament. Although, Azarenka scripted a great comeback in the third set which guided her to a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 win, but her shot selection and movement on the court suggested that she was a bit rusty.

On the other hand, Madison Keys missed a lot of action at the start of this season as she was diagnosed COVID positive. Post recovery, Keys has been able to win only three matches in her last six appearances but she has looked in good touch this season of the Roland Garros.

Keys won her last game against Leylah Fernandez in straight sets to book a seat in the third round. However, even she was taken to the final set of the match by Oceane Dodin. Keys eventually won the match-up by  6-3, 3-6, 6-1. She is expected to give a very tough fight to Azarenka.

 Victoria Azarenka vs Madison Keys: Head-to-Head

This will be their 2nd meeting. Azarenka leads the H2H 1-0. The two last played against each other in Miami in 2018 when Keys retired trailing 6-7(5), 0-2.

 Victoria Azarenka vs Madison Keys: Prediction

This encounters might go down to the wire as both the players are evenly matched. It might boil down to the unforced errors committed by each player as there is very little to choose between the two. Azarenka is ranked higher but Keys has delivered a power-packed performance in her last match-up.

The odds will be in Azarenka’s favor but Keys’ strong backhand play might put her in the driver’s seat. Moreover, clay court is not the preferred surface of either of the two players which makes the contest evenly poised.

Prediction: Madison Keys to win in three sets

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