Putintseva vs Shuai Prediction 16 January 2025

Will Yulia Putintseva defeat Shuai Zhang for the sixth consecutive time? Sportbooks almost have no doubt that a rematch in the second round of the Australian major will not occur. We, in turn, also do not see any serious prerequisites for a potential sensation, fully agreeing with the odds offered in our prediction.

Yulia Putintseva

Putintseva is a step away from entering the top twenty of the world ranking, which definitely has a positive effect on her motivation. Yulia has not won anything since last summer (Birmingham). However, she also avoided a prolonged slump. Last week, the representative of Kazakhstan made some noise in Adelaide (semifinal), leaving nothing for Ons Jabeur, Diana Schnyder, and Donna Vekic. In Melbourne, the athlete managed to win two-hour battles against Elina Avanesyan, converting exactly half of her break points (6 out of 12).

Shuai Zhang

Zhang has been in a severe crisis for a couple of years, which has not yet led to retirement. Recently, Shuai notably had a series of 24 defeats, but she coped with the difficulties commendably. Last autumn, the Chinese player brilliantly performed at the thousand tournament in Beijing (top-8), winning four consecutive matches outright. On these courts, the tennis player took 77 minutes to deal with McCartney Kessler, recording 26 actively won rallies against 11 unforced errors.

Editorial Prediction

In this match, Putintseva is obliged to convincingly resolve all issues. Yulia has prepared excellently for the meeting from all perspectives, and we believe that she will once again make the most effective use of all the pronounced weaknesses of her experienced opponent. A victory for the world's 23rd racket with a handicap of -5.5 is our choice for the match.