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Sloane Stephens vs Karolina Pliskova Tennis Prediction

Pliskova, who is on a seven-match winning streak, faces off Stephens, against whom she has 0-2 head-to-head record. However, it has been nearly three years since they last met, 2015 Beijing (hard-court, 6-3 6-3), while their first encounter was way back in 2012 (Wimbledon, 6-2 6-2).

Karolina Pliskova News

Karolina Pliskova had to dig deep to survive a late-night thriller against fellow former #1 Victoria Azarenka on Monday, after having won the first set comfortably, 6-2, and led the third 3-0. This is the first time Pliskova has advanced to the third round of Madrid.
Pliskova arrived at Madrid fresh off claiming her first Premier title on clay at Stuttgart, where she defeated the reigning French Open champion Ostapenko and Coco Vandeweghe (final). She started this week’s campaign with a routine win over Vesnina (6-4 6-2).
The Czech #1 has reached the quarterfinal of all but one tournament (Doha) she has participated in this year. Last year, she reached the last eight of 14 Premier or higher level of tournaments, including a semifinal at French Open (l. to Halep in three sets).

Sloane Stephens News

Sloane Stephens has registered a couple of straight-forward victories against qualifier Silvia Soler-Espinosa (6-3 6-2) and fellow US Open champion Samantha Stosur (6-1 6-3) to move into the Madrid round of 16 for the second time (2014, l. to Li Na).
Stephens arrived at Europe after lifting her first title of 2018 at Miami, defeating four slam champions in a row (Muguruza, Kerber, Azarenka, and Ostapenko). However, her first clay match of the season was a debacle against Vandeweghe at Stuttgart (l. 6-1 6-0).
Before this week, Stephens last played a clay match at the 2016 French Open, few months before she went on an 11-month break. It was also in 2016 the last time she reached a clay quarterfinal, while she was on a title run at Charleston (her only clay title).

Tennis Prediction: Sloane Stephens
Odds: 2.00