Ludmilla Samsonova vs. Sofia Kenin – French Open, September 29, 2020

The women’s singles of the French Open 2020 are going to be competitive and we already got a taste of that early on. Several seeded players have been eliminated in the first round and even the best are not safe.

The fourth seed Sofia Kenin has a tricky opponent on Wednesday and has to be careful to stay in the tournament. The Russian youngster Ludmilla Samsonova has been a constant presence on the WTA tour in 2019 and 2020 which shows her potential.

I explore both players in this Ludmilla Samsonova vs. Sofia Kenin betting preview that also includes the latest odds, my prediction, and a free betting pick.

The Ludmilla Samsonova vs. Sofia Kenin odds you can see above are offered by SportsBetting.ag, one of my favorite places for the 2020 French Open and tennis in general. The sportsbook offers his prices and some juicy promotions for both new and existing players.

The progression of Ludmilla Samsonova’s career has been slower compared to some of the top players of her generation, but the Russian is steadily grinding the WTA rankings. She’s still only 21 and has managed to earn a place in WTA tournaments over the past year and a half.

Samsonova is yet to find a win during a Grand Slam, so you can’t expect wonders from her in the 2020 French Open. And yet, the Russian loves clay courts and this has been her most successful surface.

She’s solid from the baseline and could take advantage if her opponent has a bad day in the office on Tuesday.

After showing some potential in 2018 and 2019, Sofia Kenin exploded at the start of this year by winning the Australian Open. She was hoping for more of the same before the global pandemic caused a pause in the tennis season.

Kenin returned with a shaky performance in the US Open that was still enough to reach the fourth round. She looked like a shadow of herself in the Italian Open, suffering a double bagel in the first match against Victoria Azarenka.

Flawless tennis! ?@vika7 takes out the No.3 seed Kenin, 6-0, 6-0.#IBI20 pic.twitter.com/4hZDifVwZp

— wta (@WTA) September 17, 2020

I’m not sure where this came from, but Kenin has to improve dramatically. She won’t be pressured that heavily in the early rounds in Paris, so she has enough time to build her form.

Samsonova has progressed this year and she likes clay, but I believe that the gap between the Russian and Kenin is huge right now. I expect a strong start from the American in the 2020 Roland-Garros, so I prefer to back her to cover the -4.5 handicap.