Matthew Stevens vs David Grace Prediction: A tight contest is what I expect

In the World Open Qualification, David Grace will play Matthew Stevens at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield, England. The two professionals have met three times, with their last meeting being in 2016. While David Grace has two wins, can Mathew Stevens equal that record? I will look into the players’ form and offer promising betting options.

Matthew Stevens

Matthew Stevens will hope to show character following consecutive defeats, coming against Wu Yize in the Snooker Shoot-Out and Hammad Miah in the German Masters Qualification. However, heading into this World Open, I expect the Welsh professional to be at his best and deliver as the bookies back him to win. Yet, Matthew Stevens has three wins in his last six games, coming against Manasawin Phetmalaikul, Martin O’Donnell, and Sijun Yuan, while losing three in that run. While the Welsh professional player has faced more defeats than wins in his last matches in this one, the fact that he has also lost to David Grace more times in this fixture also puts a lot of pressure on him. Yet, I think he has a chance, provided he can maintain his composure and approach this game with his best tactics. 

David Grace

David Grace is coming off back-to-back victories in the German Masters Qualification, and the Englishman will hope to replicate that feat here. In those matches, the Englishman defeated Long Zehuang and Anton Kazakov, ending 3-5 and 5-0, respectively. 

Meanwhile, it is important to note that prior encounters to that win saw David Grace lose four consecutive matches. In that run, he played Anda Zhang, Artemijs Zizins, David Gilbert and Kyren Wilson, with the encounters ending 6-3, 3-6, 74-1 and 4-0. In fact, David Grace has won twice in the run of seven games before his recent games. While the odds are not on his side, I still believe it is tough to write him off, looking at how competitive he was in the past meetings against Matthew Stevens.

Expert Betting Tips

The two players have their problems and will have to show character. While they have both struggled against tough opponents, their level of play has also dropped drastically. While this is an open one for the two players to grab, it should also be a tight one, considering how their past meetings have ended. Yet, Mathew Stevens looks a bit better, and it is no surprise he is the favourite. I will take this game to end with high frames, as the two players have struggled to easily win lately while betting Stevens will win.