On Monday, Daria Kasatkina defeated Frenchwoman Diane Parry in a tough match in three sets – 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. On Tuesday, Veronika Kudermetova and Lyudmila Samsonova will begin their journey to the Abu Dhabi tournament.
Veronica Kudermetova vs. Heather Watson
Initially, Watson was supposed to play with Elena Ostapenko, but the Latvian tennis player withdrew from the tournament and the Briton received Veronica Kudermetova as an opponent, who at first had a match against Linda Noskova.
Kudermetova is not yet in her best form at the start of the season. After being eliminated in the second round of the Brisbane International and the Adelaide International, she lost outright in the first round of the Australian Open. But if in the first two tournaments the defeats were due to the comparable Russians Anastasia Potapova and Ekaterina Alexandrova, at the Australian TBS Kudermetova lost to the little-known Swiss Victoria Golubich.
Watson was expected to qualify for the Abu Dhabi Open. She opened with a big victory against Sofia Kenin 3-6, 6-1, 6-1, then beat Rebeka Masharova 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1 to advance to the main draw.
In personal meetings, Kudermetova and Watson drew 1-1. The Briton won 6-1, 6-4 at the 2019 Tianjin Open, while Kudermetova beat her 6-2, 6-2 at the 2021 Grampians Trophy.
Considering their rankings and results, Kudermetova will be the favorite for this fight. However, given Kudermetova’s poor start to the season, Watson could cause problems for the Russian.
Forecast: victory for Veronica Kudermetova.
Lyudmila Samsonova vs. Lesya Tsurenko
Tsurenko’s previous tournament was the Australian Open, where she reached the third round, but then lost devastatingly to Aryna Sabalenka with a score of 0-6, 0-6.
As for Samsonova, at the beginning of the season she immediately lost to Mirra Andreeva 2-6, 1-6 at the Brisbane International tournament, then lost to Laura Siegemund in the first round of the Adelaide International with a score of 7-6 . (1), 4-6, 4-6.
The Russian’s woes continued at the Australian Open, where Amanda Anismova beat her 6-3, 6-4 in the first round. If Samsonova does not radically change the situation, even Tsurenko will cause her problems.
Previously, the tennis players met once: Samsonova won the qualification for the 2021 Australian Open and reached the main draw.
Forecast: victory of Lyudmila Samsonova.
Vyacheslav Gorbachev/Athletistic
Source: Sport
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