The main aspect I believe is that the experienced and talented player Muchova, who has a H2H balance of 0:4 with the American Gauff, has lost all of those matches in just two sets. This is somewhat unexpected for me, as Gauff is not consistent and stable on the court, even though she moves well and plays well. Muchova, on the other hand, works well with her mind, although her movement is not as good and she sometimes has health problems, she plays tactically very well. On the other hand, Muchova has won against Sabalenka 3:2, against Rybakina 2:1, and even against Swiatek 1:4. So somehow it doesn't add up how Coco is able to win against her so many times. The advantage is that Muchova has had a strong start to the season, already defeating Rybakina and Aleksandrova, but the disadvantage is that her game tends to decline in later stages. However, this is just a matter of the day and there should be a strong motivation for her.

This is the main aspect for me, that experienced and quite talented player Muchova, with American Gauff, has a H2H record of 0:4 and has lost all matches in two sets, which is somewhat unlikely for me, because Gauff is not a consistent player, although she moves well on the court and plays well, while Muchova excels in her tactics, even though her movements are not as good and she sometimes has health problems, but she plays very well strategically.
On the other hand, Muchova has even won against Sabalenka with a H2H record of 3:2, against Rybakina 2:1, and even against Swiatek with a not so bad record of 1:4. So it's somehow strange that Coco manages to defeat her so many times.
A plus is that Muchova has had a strong start to the season, already having wins against Rybakina and Aleksandrova, but a minus is that her game slows down in later stages, but that's just the nature of the game and there must be a strong motivation for her.

Yulia Putintseva, 31 years old, represented Kazakhstan, had a good performance in Ghana, where the competition was not very strong. The opponents were of a similar level and the three matches were all 3 sets long. Her main disadvantage is her short height and weak serves on the fast courts in Australia. Although she has good technical skills, she often struggles to control her emotions and makes mistakes. Regardless, Putintseva has surpassed her potential in Australia.
On the other hand, Jovic is a very young 18-year-old player from the USA, similar to Mboko from Canada, which is why they are playing together. Jovic has currently achieved her career's highest points, and in the previous match she won in straight sets against Paolini, so I believe it will be somewhat easier for her to face a similar opponent.

A more decent total and it can be attempted. I have mentioned before that DiVincenzo consistently makes a fair amount of shots, with the majority being 3 pointers. He can easily gather 17-20 points. The Warriors allow a lot of points to be scored by players in his position throughout the season, with many being 3 pointers. It seems like a great situation for Donte. He has made 3 3 pointers 8 times in the last 10 games.

I think Real is at a stage where they are walking on thin ice. The dismissal of Alonso, dissatisfaction and booing from fans against Levante as if it were a royal club, a serious statement with the 6-1 win over Monaco, and a victory in La Liga today that would have helped them climb to the top of the standings. Real's "crisis" is just another drama because the quality of football this season has been poor and that was enough to change the coach. The players themselves know that they can only win back the fans and make them happy with results. Villarreal is having a good season, but their main points come from weaker teams, as they fail in those so-called "big games" - losing 0-2 to Barcelona, 2-0 against Atletico Madrid, 3-1 against Real Madrid, and also losing 2-0 to Betis and suffering defeats from Dortmund and Manchester City in the Champions League with scores of 4-0 and 2-0, respectively. Despite a great season overall, Villarreal struggles against stronger clubs.

After a rough patch, Paris team finally has to play successfully and the worst league team is a great option. Lyon just beat Portel with 50 points, so I believe Paris can also win with a solid difference. Despite a double week in Euroleague, the team may again score 100 after two very poor offensive games.

Although Liverpool has been struggling lately, they still need to take points confidently. Points are hard to come by and when they do, it is in difficult matches. Bourne's situation is tragic, not only because of their poor performance lately, but also because their team leader, who scored most of their goals, has left. I don't think anyone can fill his shoes and they are facing a crushing defeat against a gradually improving Liverpool.

Leaders against underdogs and even though Galatasaray's form is not the best, it is expected that this team will redeem themselves, especially against Karagumruk. Even though this year has not been very successful for Galatasaray club, a team with such talent and kindness must simply defeat the Turkish underdogs. 13 losses out of 18 matches, and 7 of them by a margin of two or more, show that Galatasaray can be predicted for an easy win.

The worst defending team in the league, Arouca, has let in a staggering 42 goals and has a -23 goal difference in just 18 league matches. Sporting, on the other hand, is a goal-scoring machine with 50 scored goals in the same number of matches, making them the better team in terms of offense. Therefore, their matchup should be very successful for Sporting. In the second round, Sporting crushed their opponents 6-0 at home, so it is expected that they will have another convincing victory away from home.

IEM Krakow 2026 Stage 1