Stuttgart 2023: Vekic vs Alexandrova Tennis Prediction and Pick

TennisSection previews the 2023 Stuttgart Open first-round match featuring Donna Vekic vs Ekaterina Alexandrova on Monday, April 17, 2023.

Vekic vs Alexandrova Match Preview and Prediction

Donna Vekic plays her first clay-court match of the season at the Stuttgart Open when she squares off against a big-hitting Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova. Who will prevail?

Donna Vekic has played a fine season so far on the hard courts, winning a fourth career title in Monterrey and briefly re-entering the world’s top 20 for the second time in her career last month. She is 17-4 for the year, and outside her shock early exit in Indian Wells, it is impossible to pick any other bad result in what has been a superb campaign for the Croatian flat hitter. Let’s see if she can get on the board in her first match on clay this year. Will she upset Ekaterina Alexandrova at the Stuttgart Open?

Ekaterina Alexandrova is in the top 20, but playing Donna Vekic right off the bat is not something she will take comfort in. The head-to-head is split at 1-1, and this should be a tight affair, but Alexandrova holds a significant edge given her outstanding results on clay on the pro tour. Can she kick off her Stuttgart Open campaign with a win?

Vekic vs Alexandrova Prediction and Pick

Donna Vekic and Ekaterina Alexandrova are tied at 1-1 in their head-to-head, with their last collision coming in St. Petersburg in 2020 where Alexandrova won in straight sets. I can’t really see a way in which Vekic will win here. The Croat has been to the fourth round of the French Open before but generally struggles to replicate her hard-court consistency on the dirt. That’s where Alexandrova has excelled, notching over 100 wins on the surface. And with a recent quarterfinal appearance in Charleston, Alexandrova has already some heavy lifting on the surface and will like her chances of taking down the World No. 23 at the Stuttgart Open.