🎾 WTA Eastbourne – Round 1 Preview Harriet Dart vs Barbora Krejcikova

🎾 WTA Eastbourne – Round 1 Preview

Harriet Dart vs Barbora Krejcikova

Home heroine meets returning elite in a match hinging on rhythm vs resilience.

🧠 Form & Context

Harriet Dart
🏠 Home-court heroine: quarter-finalist here in 2022 and 2024; loves the Devonshire Park crowd.
🌱 Grass numbers solid (46–51 career) and 4–2 this month if you include the Ilkley WTA event.
⬇️ Overall 2025 has been shaky (9–14) but she’s 5–3 in her last eight matches and served at 71% in Eastbourne qualifying a year ago—an indicator of comfort on the slick lawns.
💪 Took a set off Krejcikova on Birmingham grass last June before fading 6–3 6–4.

Barbora Krejcikova
❄️ Cold start to 2025: just 1–3 in singles, with early exits in Strasbourg, Roland Garros and Queen’s.
📉 Match rhythm lacking after a rib issue kept her out from January to mid-May; has not won back-to-back matches since October 2024.
🏆 Still the higher-class player (former No. 2, eight WTA singles titles) and a proven grass threat—Wimbledon quarter-finalist in 2021—but needs confidence fast.
🎾 Biggest weapons: heavy kick serve that stays low on grass and flat backhand returns that punish second serves.

🔍 Match Breakdown

The matchup comes down to serve patterns and first-ball aggression:

• Dart will mix slice serves out wide on the ad side, then look to step inside the baseline with her forehand. She must attack Krejcikova’s second serve—Barbora won only 39% of second-serve points in her three losses this year.
• Krejcikova strives to dictate with deep returns and early down-the-line backhands, taking time away from Dart’s forehand backswing. If she lands >60% first serves and keeps unforced errors under 15 per set, her class should surface.

Intangibles: Dart’s confidence at Eastbourne and crowd energy versus Krejcikova’s elite ceiling but rust. Windy seaside gusts often reward the player with tighter technique—advantage Krejcikova if her timing clicks, advantage Dart if the Czech still looks match-slow.

🔮 Prediction

Prediction: Krejcikova in 3 sets
Dart rides the crowd to snatch a set, but the Czech steadies her game and pulls through.

📊 Tale of the Tape

• 2025 W/L: Dart 9–14 • Krejcikova 1–3
• Grass Record (Career): Dart 46–51 • Krejcikova 21–14
• Return Games Won (Grass Career): Dart 35% • Krejcikova 43%
• H2H: Krejcikova leads 1–0 (Birmingham 2023)