Simona Halep (3 WTA) continues her route to the Australian Open and meets Elise Mertens (17 WTA) on Monday, starting at 02:00 (Romania time).
The winner of the match will meet in the “quarters” the winner between Annet Kontaveit and Iga Swiatek.
The tip for the match Elise Mertens vs Simona Halep can be read at the end of this analysis.

Elise Mertens: Team shape, news and statistics

◾️Elise Mertens prevailed in the third round in front of Catherine “CiCi” Bellis (6-1, 6-7, 6-0), after a match that lasted two hours.
◾️It was a hard-fought victory over the 600 WTA.
◾️Simona Halep’s future opponent was a semi-finalist in Melbourne in 2018, the phase of the competition in which she was defeated by Caroline Wozniacki (3-6, 6-7).
◾️The Belgian press has high expectations from this year’s participation.
◾️”It will be a very difficult match, but I’m happy that I got to the fourth round.
◾️I want to take everything match by match, all opponents are different, every day is different and I want to give 100%, ”said Mertens before facing Halep.
◾️Belgium has the moral ascendancy of the last direct confrontation, when it came out victorious in three sets.

Simona Halep: Team shape, news and statistics

◾️Simona Halep qualified in the “best” of the Grand Slam tournament in Antipozi after defeating 6-1, 6-4, clear of Iulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan, 38th place WTA.
◾️Halep managed 3 aces and made 3 double mistakes.
◾️The Romanian had much better percentages on both the first and the second service.
◾️The Romanian only stayed one hour and 19 minutes on the ground in the third round, so he didn’t have time to get tired.
◾️”I have met her three times and it is enough to know how she plays and what I have to do against her.
◾️I will be ready for the match and I must fight, ”Simona said after the victory with Putintseva.
◾️Halep lost in the “optimum” at last year’s edition in Melbourne and played the final in 2018.
◾️The presence of Daren Cahil is an additional argument for winning the trophy in 2020.

🎾Direct match statistics Elise Mertens vs Simona Halep

▪️Simona Halep has played three times against Mertens, winning two games in 2018: 6-1, 6-2, in “quarters” at Roland Garros and 6-0, 6-3, in “optima” in Madrid.
▪️Last year, Mertens defeated our Romanian in the Qatar Open final by 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

🎾What is the shape of the players in the last 5 matches?

Yulia Putintseva

◽️Yulia Putintseva, a tennis player born in Moscow but representing Kazakhstan in international competitions, currently 38th in the WTA hierarchy, comes to Melbourne after a presence in Brisbane, where she was eliminated in the final round by Danielle Rose Collins and a elimination suffered in the sixteenth Adelaide International, in front of australience Ajla Tomljanovic, 52nd place WTA.
◽️Present for the eighth year in a row on the main table of the Australian Open, Putintseva won without problems in the first round against Taiwanese Su-Wei Hsieh, score 6-1, 6-3, but needed three sets to move on next round by Danielle Rose Collins, 6-4, 2-6, 7-5.

Simona Halep

◽️Former world number one, Simona Halep, is present for the tenth time in her career on the main table at the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, with total prizes worth over $ 22.7 million.
◽️A year ago, tennis in our country stopped even in the sixteenth round, being eliminated in three sets by Serena Williams, score 1-6, 6-4 and 4-6.
◽️Simona started with a victory in the new season, 2-0 in sets against Ajlei Tomljanovic, but left the competition, Adelaide International, in the next round, following the defeat suffered in front of Arynei Sabalenka, 4-6, 2-6.
◽️In Melbourne, the world number three has not encountered great difficulties so far, she managed to prevail, every time in minimum sets against Jennifer Brady (7-6, 6-1), in the opening round and against British Harriet Dart, 173 WTA, 6-2, 6-4.

🎾News, analysis, statistics and progress about the 2 players.

Yulia Putintseva

◾️27th place WTA is the best ranking in the hierarchy for Putintseva.
◾️It matched the best performance recorded in Adelaide, in 2016, present in the sixteenth round.
◾️He lost only two of the 10 matches played this year.
◾️He has a single WTA title, won in May last year, on the Nurnberg slag.
◾️During his career, he played two other WTA finals, in Guangzhou (2018) and St. Petersburg respectively (2017).

Simona Halep

◾️Simona is a finalist for the 2018 edition of the tournament (6-7, 6-3, 4-6 in front of Caroline Wozniacki).
◾️Over the years he has won 19 WTA trophies (two Grand Slam: Roland Garros and Wimbledon).
◾️63.4% is the percentage of points won by Simona on the first service in the WTA competitions disputed a year ago.
◾️He managed 7 aces and made 5 double mistakes in the 4 matches played in 2020.
◾️He sustained 60 matches in 2019, on all surfaces, winning 43 of them.

Tennis Prediction of the Day Elise Mertens vs Simona Halep

Simona Halep got into the rhythm, proving the definitive victory of the previous round.
Not the same can be said about Mertens, who needed three sets to overcome an opponent positioned outside the top 500 in the WTA!
I think Simona can qualify in the “quarterfinals” of the Australian Open 2020.

Prediction Today: Simona Halep

Odds: 1.63

Simona played excellent with Putintseva and seems to be entering the competition well.
Mertens did not excel in the game and came here without eliminating too strong opponents.
Simona also controlled the match in Doha, when she lost on an unexplained fall, difficult to repeat now.
I see a clear victory for Simona, because Mertens does not have a game that will put her in difficulty.

Bet Tips: Simona Halep -4.5 games

Odds: 2.40