A Japan-Czech battle is about to unfold this weekend in Melbourne, as Naomi Osaka and Petra Kvitova are set to face off in an intriguing matchup in the finals of the 2019 Australian Open. Each has her distinct style of play and went through contrasting paths to the grand stage of the tournament, but will share the same court to determine who will be the last woman standing in the women’s bracket. Read on for who between Osaka and Kvitova is being predicted by key tennis media experts to win it all.
*view all 2019 Australian Open Women’s Singles Final Odds HERE
Sportskeeda
Expert
Pick
Amarjeet Nayak
Petra Kvitova
Nayak of Sportskeeda likes the resiliency of Osaka, who’s battled more adversities in the tournament than Kvitova. Like most other experts, Nayak believes in Osaka’s powerful service game to create a big difference for her in the finals, though, he is wary that it could also let her down, saying that there’s been moments in her matches over the past rounds in which the 21-year-old Japanese had seen her struggle with her service game. It is partly for the same reason why Nayak is putting his money on Kvitova to beat Osaka. For Nayak, Kvitova’s return game will make Osaka pay for any misstep in the latter’s serves.
WTA Addict
WTA thinks that this is Kvitova’s match to lose. While WTA thinks that the match is “tough to predict,” the website believes that, based on Kvitova’s form right now, she’s going to be hard to stop. Kvitova, in fact, has not lost a set yet in the tournament. In other words, she’s got fresher legs and less vulnerable to fatigue than Osaka, who has played in three matches that went three sets long each so far in the tournament. Also, WTA Addict raised one interesting fact that reinforces Kvitova’s favorite label: she is 8-0 in finals matches.
Expert
Pick
WTA Addict
Petra Kvitova
The Telegraph
Well, The Telegraph is also predicting a win by Kvitova. It seems like Osaka is truly an underdog in this matchup despite playing wonderful tennis so far, even when considering some hiccups. The Telegraph, however, concedes that the result of the showdown between Osaka and Kvitova is not going to shock them no matter who wins it.
Expert
Pick
Telegraph Sport
Petra Kvitova
TopBet Writer Ryan Simpson
Citing Petra Kvitova’s relentless attack on the season opening tournament thus far, leading with 115 first serve return points and not having lost a single set on her path to the finals, Simpson picks Petra to carry on and win, without even seeing a third set. View Ryan’s complete Osaka vs Kvitova prediction and preview.
