Timea Babos (Hungary) vs. Kaia Kanepi (Estonia) – Score prediction (15.10.2019)

Preview and players comparison.

The pair had their second encounter, and first since 2012 Copenhagen, in the Miami qualifying this year. Kanepi has won both matches, though the recent one in straight sets. The 34-year-old, whose only other post-US Open campaign was a quarterfinal at W60 Caldas da Rainha, is expected to prevail once again.

Kaia Kanepi started just her 13th campaign of the season in the qualifyings of Kremlin Cup, confirming her spot in the main draw without a set loss across three matches. After finishing runner-up to Cibulkova in 2011, she has not won a main draw match since — lost to Stosur in 2013 and Vikhlyantseva in 2017. Kanepi has gone 8-8 in tour-level main draw matches this year, with all but two wins coming on clay-courts. Her best results have been round-of-16 showings at Charleston and Roland Garros, beating 18th seed Julia Goerges during the latter run. She hasn’t reached a quarterfinal on tour since January 2018.

Last month, Timea Babos was seeking her first completed main draw win on tour since Istanbul in April. She ended the wait by beating Jelena Ostapenko in Seoul, followed by a takedown of Kirsten Flipkens in Tashkent. The Hungarian will make her third Moscow appearance, being a quarterfinalist in 2016. Babos hit her rock bottom when she slipped to the 148th spot in May. She has recuperated 50 places since then, en route posting a final at W100 Ilkley and semifinal at W100 Vancouver. This improvement comes after she went 8-26 from May 2018 to April 2019, failing to secure back-to-back wins in the timeframe.

Match Info.

Competition: WTA – SINGLES: Moscow (Russia), hard (indoor) – 1/16-finals.
Start: 15.10.2019, 8:00 UTC.