WTA: Australian Open: Angelique Kerber- Kristyna Pliskova

The Pliskova twins are tough to tell apart, until they pick up a racquet and I am not talking about the 53 places which separate them in the world rankings, but the fact that Kristyna is a leftie and Karolina plays right handed ! The two both won Junior slam titles and had and still have unlimited potential for the main tour, which Karolina has started to achieve big time, whilst Kristyna has struggled and had confidence issues. However, a change in coach last year was the catalyst for a major breakthrough into the top hundred , winning two titles at the end of the year, one on the main tour and she is now closing in on top 50 and has her sights on much higher.

Much is made of the Karolina serve and it is a biggie, but many watchers feel that Kristyna's is better and last year here in Melbourne in R2 she served 31 (!) aces against Monica Puig, she had 15 against Johanna Konta in Shenzhen in the first tournament of this year, taking the top ten player to 32 games and three close sets. She now meets the world #1 and defending champion, but has nothing to lose and everything to gain and Angelique Kerber has been struggling this year to really hit her stride, she has lost to Svitolina and Kasatkina and been taken to three sets in her three wins, with all those opponents ranked outside the top 50 (two 80 +). Kerber is also a leftie and sometimes they do not like to face others who play the "wrong" way round, that is not really the case with the German, but she has had more problems with tall left handed players like Pliskova and is 13-4 on hardcourts against those under 1.78m, 9-8 versus those over and her career surface win rate of 60.73% falls 6% against those who, like Pliskova are over 1.83m regardless of which hand the hold the racquet with.

We have a fast improving player, with plenty of ability and a monster serve , but who has had confidence issues and Kerber who is less comfortable agaisnt fellow lefties and taller players in general and who is struggling for consistency right now. Regardless of what happens today , Kristyna looks to only be heading in one direction .

1.5 units Kristyna Pliskova +1.5 sets (to win a set) 2.55 Pinnacle ..............there is 2.50 elsewhere and you can get the same with a combined bet on Pliskova to win and Kerber 2-1 in sets. The 4.0-4.50 for Kerber to win 2-1 in sets for a 4th time in six 2017 starts is also good value on it's own.

Good Luck.