🎾 WTA Eastbourne – Round 1 Preview Anna Blinkova vs Marie Bouzková

🎾 WTA Eastbourne – Round 1 Preview

Anna Blinkova vs Marie Bouzková

Early-round tension meets style contrast: flat-hitting aggression vs grass-tested defense. Who blinks first?

🧠 Form & Context

Anna Blinkova
🔄 Up-and-down 2025 (19-16) but already 2-2 on grass with a tidy win over Siniaková in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
🎯 Prefers quicker low-bounce courts where her flat backhand can do damage.
⚖️ Has beaten Bouzková twice—including straight-sets in Hobart last year—and usually starts hot in their match-ups.

Marie Bouzková
🏗️ Building momentum: 15-12 this season; clay swing saw wins over Kalinskaya & Kartal before a respectable R3 versus Gauff in Paris.
🚧 Retired in Strasbourg (upper-leg issue) but played all three RG matches without discomfort—fitness looks restored.
🧩 Game style: counter-punching, elite movement, thrives on retrieving and redirecting pace—which is tricky on slick grass if timing is off.

🔍 Match Breakdown

🎾 First-strike vs counter-punch: Blinkova’s aggressive return stance and flatter hits can rush Bouzková, but extended exchanges favor the Czech’s consistency.
🌿 Grass factor: Blinkova has more reps this swing; Bouzková hasn’t hit a tour-level grass court yet in 2025 and is 0-0 on the surface this season.
🔑 Serve quality: Both serve percentages hover in the mid-50s; whoever holds 65%+ first serves should control momentum.
🧠 H2H psychology: Bouzková leads 3-2 overall and edged their latest bout in Miami ’23—but Blinkova has taken the lone grass-court clash (Hobart).

🔮 Prediction

If Bouzková’s movement is 100%, her retrieval skills can grind Blinkova down.
Yet match sharpness on grass tilts the scale toward the Russian, especially in early rounds.

Prediction: Blinkova in 3 sets

📊 Tale of the Tape

• H2H: Bouzková leads 3–2 (Blinkova won their only grass match)
• 2025 W/L: Blinkova 19–16 • Bouzková 15–12
• Grass W/L (2025): Blinkova 2–2 • Bouzková 0–0
• Best 2025 Result: Blinkova (Hobart QF) • Bouzková (RG R3)