Caty McNally vs. Karolina Muchova: Preview and betting tips

On Thursday afternoon, the remaining five semi-final matches of the third edition of the popular AGEL Open will be played at the Ostravar Arena. Three Czech players will also be in action, one of them will be Karolína Muchová. Will she make it into the top eight of the tournament?

Caty McNally is a 20-year-old tennis player originally from the USA. She is ranked 151st on the WTA rankings. However, if she continues to improve, she will soon see her way into the elite 100.

She has already made three appearances in Ostrava. In the first round of qualification she surprisingly knocked out Xiya Wang after sets 6::3 and 6::3. In the second round, she found a recipe for Slovak tennis player Anna Karolina Schmiedlova and could rejoice in advancing to the main part of the tournament.

In the first round, she could hardly have wished for a more acceptable draw as she met Anna Blinkova, another successful qualifier. McNally confirmed her role as the favourite in this encounter and after 6:1 and 6:2 sets advanced to the eighth round.

But on Thursday she will face a much tougher opponent. Twenty-six-year-old Karolína Muchová will face her. She is ranked 189th in the WTA rankings, but this is mainly due to a long break caused by health problems.

Last week in Tallinn, Estonia, the Olomouc native showed that she belongs among the wider world elite. She was not able to beat Kanepi, losing the deciding set in a tiebreak. At the AGEL Open, she knocked out the dangerous Haddad Maiova twice 6:4.

The home player is the big favourite to advance to the top eight. The American has not won two consecutive matches in the main draw since June this year, when she did so in Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands.