Events / Ben Caudell / 26 October 2011 /

Victoria Azarenka is expected to make light work of US Champion Sam Stosur, if her stats are anything to go by, whilst world number one Caroline Wozniacki goes up against Vera Zvonareva.

Victoria Azarenka (BLR) v Samantha Stosur (AUS)

Victoria Azarenka steps out for her first match of the WTA Championships in Istanbul to face Samantha Stosur of Australia, a player she will strongly fancy her chances of beating and in the process increasing her head-to-head lead to 5-0.

Although the Belarusian happened to be the last of the eight players to arrive in Istanbul thanks to her tournament win in Luxembourg the week before, Stosur seems to have pulled the short straw in the scheduling. She's being made to start proceedings on day two, after playing the evening match on Monday.

I can't see anything other than a win for the No. 4 seed today, and most likely a straight sets win for a player who is on fire at the moment. Not only does Azarenka hold a 4-0 head-to-head advantage over the US Open Champion, with all four matches won in straight sets, she also comes into today's match-up having won fifteen in a row on indoor hard courts, whereas Stosur's record reads 4-6.

Tall players such as Azarenka, Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova all have great head-to-head records against Stosur. They are able to nullify the Australian's biggest weapons - her kick serve and top spin forehand - because the height of the ball is perfect for them, whereas smaller players find it hard to deal with the extra top spin. This can be further highlighted by the fact that Stosur has a losing record of 15-1 against the three aforementioned players.

If we also take into account the fact that Azarenka has a superior ranking, surface rating and match rating (Match Ratings assess form specific to the current tournament conditions and the opposing player ) then another straights set win for Victoria looks a pretty solid bet.

Recommended Bet: Back Azarenka 2-0 @ [2.20] and Victoria Azarenka to win match @ [1.46]

Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) v Vera Zvonareva (RUS)

Having won her opening match against the tricky Agnieska Radwanska in three sets last night, the Danish sensation has almost secured her end of year ranking of number one in the world. Only Maria Sharapova can disrupt her quest but this looks highly unlikely now, seeing as the Russian lost to Stosur in her opening match.

With the pressure slightly off the world No.1, Wozniacki can set about her business of securing her qualification through to the semi-finals( for the second year in a row) with a win over Vera Zvonareva .

I have to be favouring Caroline to win tonight; the Russian seems to be cracking mentally with her confidence at an all-time low, after defeats to Dominika Cibulkova in Moscow and being blown off the court by an aggressive Petra Kvitova yesterday here in Istanbul.

Woznaicki on the other hand looks like she means business and will be extremely buoyed by her recent stats. The winner of no less than six tournaments in 2011 comes into this much-up with eleven wins in a row on indoor hard courts, six in a row in Turkey, nine of her last ten in the Middle East, six of her last seven against Top Ten players and eleven of her last twelve when priced as favourite. Zvonareva has lost six of her last seven against Top Ten Players and five of her last six when priced as an underdog, therefore the [1.52] on offer for a Woznaicki win looks rather big in my eyes.

Recommended Bet: Back Caroline Wozniacki to win match @ [1.52]>

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