Just a few hours ago, Emma Navarro was spotted resting at her home and recharging herself for the Cincinnati Masters. She is getting ready to face the Russian teenage tennis sensation, Mirra Andreeva in the first round (R64). Both of these tennis stars have played some exceptional tennis this year and have also grabbed one title each this season. Beating Navarro on her home soil won’t be easy, but we all are quite aware of Andreeva’s enormous potential. So, fasten your seatbelts for yet another intriguing matchup in the 2024 season. Before that, let’s analyze the odds.

Emma Navarro vs Mirra Andreeva: Preview

If we take a look at their form this season, apart from winning a title in Hobart earlier this year, Navarro has reached one final, four SFs, and three QFs. She was defeated by her compatriot, Amanda Anisimova in the SF of the Canadian Open by 3-6,6-2,2-6. Navarro will be keen to forget that disappointing loss and start her campaign in Cincinnati on a winning note.

At this year’s UniCredit Iasi Open, Andreeva became the fourth-youngest title winner overall on the WTA tour since 2006. She was given a walkover by Armenia’s Elina Avanesyan in the finals of the Iasi Open. So, she will be full of confidence ahead of her match against Navarro. However, apart from this historic feat in her career, she has also made it through to one SF and three QFs this season. This is in fact an appropriate testament to her potential in the tennis world.

Navarro vs Andreeva: Head-to-Head

Both of them haven’t yet played against each other. So, this is what makes this contest more interesting because they’re regarded as two of the future stars in women’s tennis. Navarro is a solid player on the hard courts, while Andreeva has proved her mettle more on the clay courts. It’ll be interesting to see how well this youngster takes up this challenge on the hard court.

Prediction: Navarro to win in three sets

Although Navarro is a clear-cut favorite in the hard-court tournament on American soil, Andreeva is a mighty challenger on the court! She will not give up without giving a fight. Looking at their current form, Navarro has a win-loss record of 39-17 this season, but for Andreeva, it’s just 22-11. Even in the rankings, Navarro (13) is eleven spots above Andreeva (24). Tennis is not played on paper, and that’s quite true but how can you not pick an in-form American on American soil?

Surely, Navarro will have the home advantage. As we mentioned earlier, she is one of the most consistent performers on the Tour. Her compact style of play along with her high tactical acumen is what makes her such a special player. Her movements across the courts are mostly spot-on. She loves to bank on her solid groundstrokes to break her opponents. Navarro is often seen engaging in the baseline exchanges but she also loves stepping up to the nets to finish the points. Her biggest weakness so far, has been her high number of double faults. She has hit just 63 aces this season and committed 113 double faults. Even in her last match, she committed 6 double faults.

So, she needs to look at this aspect of her game to bring more results in her favor. However, this is where Andreeva may get an extra advantage. She is basically an aggressive baseliner who possesses powerful groundstrokes in her armory. She heavily relies on the unforced errors of her opponents, but her wide range of shots is something that can put Navarro into some trouble in this match. However, considering all these factors, we can expect some fight in this match, but Navarro has a higher chance of winning this contest.