Here we have another match-up between two players who finished 2017 in very decent form. Pauline Parmentier went on a indoor hardcourt run to close the 2017 season, making the semi final in Luxembourg (lost to Witthoeft, who lost to Krunic yesterday in Brisbane), before falling to Pera in Poiters ITF 2nd round, before making the semi finals of the Limoges Challenger (lost to eventual champion in Niculescu). It should be noted however that all of these matches occurred on indoor hardcourt, a lot different to the conditions she will be facing in Shenzhen today.
Zarina Diyas on the other hand put together some really solid outdoor hardcourt form in Asia to finish off 2017. From September 5, Diyas won 9 matches in a row (qualified for WTA Tokyo, then went on to win the title) with wins over Kumkhum, Doi, Zhang, Putintseva, McHale and Kato, before backing up off no rest to reach the 3rd round of Beijing qualifying. Diyas finished off 2017 with a very tight straight sets loss to one of the form WTA players in Svitolina, so there is some pretty solid hard court confidence for Diyas coming into this tournament, back in Asia again.
Looking at both players hardcourt form, I am pretty comfortable with making a play on Diyas to win head to head here, especially considering there are prices available over $1.70 about at the moment. For mine, Diyas should win this in straight sets if she plays to the form of the late Asian swing of 2017.
Suggested Bet
4.5 units Diyas to defeat Parmentier at $1.73 at Pinnacle
