Halep – Sevastova

Local favorite Simona Halep will try to win her second Bucharest title in three years when she takes on Anastasija Sevastova in the Sunday final.

Simona Halep, fresh off a QF showing at Wimbledon, wasn`t sure if she will take part in Bucharest – as this is a low level tournament on clay between the grass court season and the hard court season, making it difficult for top players to participate. She eventually decided to play in her home tournament, but Halep was obviously not at her best so far this week. She had problems in all matches despite meeting poor opponents and was close to losing in the semifinals against Vania King. Still, Simona found a way to raise her level when it mattered and get out of difficult situations.

Sevastova played the best tennis we saw in Bucharest this week, winning all her matches in straight sets and looking dominant in all of them, including over the second favorite, Sara Errani. She demolished in-form Siegemund in the semifinals and has now qualified for her 2nd final in the last 3 tournaments, after also reaching the last act in Mallorca (lost to Garcia).

Place your bet on Halep vs. Sevastova with the best WTA Bucharest odds at 1xBet!

Sevastova leads the Head 2 Head 3-1, but the last meeting was in 2011 and Halep was nowhere near her current level back then, so there`s nothing to be taken from the H2H here. Both players are good on clay, so the surface won`t be much of a factor.

I believe Sevastova will have enough to at least keep this game close. If Halep doesn`t raise her level a bit she might even lose this, but I do think she will play her best tennis of the week in the final – that`s what top players do. Still, it`s unlikely she will play at the top of her abilities, as this is not a relevant tournament for here in terms of prize money or ranking points. She is at home, but she made a sacrifice to play on clay and that was visible during the entire week. She already won this title and isn`t fully focused to give her absolute best.

The Latvian played some really good tennis so far in Bucharest, she does have the ability to mix it up with the best in the world and I think it`s reasonable to expect 7 or more games from her today. I will go with the handicap instead of the over due to higher odds, though it`s true that it`s a bit more risky (Sevastova could win a tight set and Halep could dominate her in the other two). But the 6 point line gives us a lot of room for error on this bet.

All in all, my tip on this match is Sevastova to cover a 6 point handicap, excellent odds at 1xBet. Prediction: Simona Halep – Anastasija Sevastova 3-6 6-3 6-2.

Pick: Sevastova +6
Odds: 3.32 @ 1xBet
Stake: 5
Possible profit: 4
Event date: 17 July