Line Calls, presented by FanDuel Sportsbook: Sofia Kenin vs. Bernarda Pera, Cleveland

We’re into the quarterfinals of Tennis in the Land, and we’re going to get a meeting between world No. 415 Sofia Kenin and world No. 51 Bernarda Pera on Thursday. These are two players that are heading in opposite directions right now, with Kenin having lost nine matches in a row—before earning two wins this week—while Pera has won 18 of her last 19 (albeit some at the Challenger level). Will Pera continue rolling by earning a convincing win over the 2020 Australian Open champion?

We think so, and we’ll tell you why.

While it’s nice to see Kenin finally getting some wins under her belt, it’s still just hard to trust her at the moment. She hit some nice shots against world No. 34 Irina-Camelia Begu in her 6-3, 6-2 win on Tuesday, but it still doesn’t look like Kenin is moving very well on the court. With that said, if she’s a little off her game when it comes to throwing haymakers, it’s hard to see how she’ll come up with the defense required to defeat somebody that is striking the ball as cleanly as Pera is right now.

WATCH: Line Calls, presented by FanDuel Sportsbook: Sofia Kenin vs. Bernarda Pera, Cleveland

As previously mentioned, Pera is 18-1 in her last 19 matches, and there’s just a special type of confidence that comes with winning at that high of a clip. You could see it in her match with world No. 23 Barbora Krejcikova, the 2021 French Open champion, as Pera looked like she knew she was the better player on the court. She was aggressively hitting powerful shots from both sides and never took her foot off the gas. We called that—and we suspect she’ll do more of the same against this former Grand Slam champion.

Not only has Pera won a lot of matches in the last few months, but she has also won a lot of tournaments. With back-to-back titles in Budapest and Hamburg, you’d think that Pera is going to be somewhat pressure-proof in this meeting with Kenin, who hasn’t tasted real success in quite some time. That’s something to remember if Kenin does ultimately find a way to keep this close, as it could create some separation later in the match.

All in all, Pera just has the ability to hit with Kenin when it comes to raw power, but she is also the player that is in better condition and form right now. It’s hard to overlook those things, which is why we’re choosing to fade Kenin one more time. It burned us against Begu the other day, but we think it’s worth going back to for one last shot.

Line Call: Pera -3.5 Games (-114)