The 16th seed Belgian Elise Mertens will play her Australian Open 2020 second-round match against Great Britain’s Heather Watson on Thursday, January 23. The match is scheduled to start at 12.30 pm local time (1.30 am BST). You can find the Elise Mertens v Heather Watson live streaming options along with its preview, head to head and tips here.
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Elise Mertens v Heather Watson Head to Head
The pair have met four times on the tour so far. Mertens leads the tally 3-1. Interestingly Watson’s only win over the Belgian came at the Hobart Open quarter-finals a few weeks ago.
Mertens Coming off a Solid 2019 Campaign
The Belgian won three titles in 2018 and ended the year 12th in the rankings. After relatively early-round exits at Brisbane, Syndey, and the Australian Open, many feared that the weight of expectations would bog her down. But she came back strongly by winning in Doha, where she was unseeded.
She reached the round of 16 at the Wimbledon and the semi-finals at the Osaka Open. But her best run of the season came in the US Open, where she reached the last eight where she lost to eventual champion Bianca Andreescu.
She is also a top ten doubles player in the world and won three titles last year. She partnered Arya Sabalenka at the US Open and became the first Belgian to win a doubles Grand Slam. Mertens has started the new season relatively impressively.
She reached the quarter-finals at Shenzhen and Hobart but went out in tough three-setters on both the occasions. In the first round here in Melbourne, she brushed aside Danka Kovinic in straight sets, only dropping two games.
Watson Flying High post-Hobart Run
The Brit has won six out of the last seven matches that include a spectacular run at the Hobart Open. Beginning from the qualifying rounds, she ended up reaching the semi-finals. The run also included her only victory over her next opponent, Mertens. She eventually went out in a tight three-set match against Elena Rybakina, who won the tournament.
Watson came to limelight in 2016, where she won the Wimbledon in Mixed doubles partnering Henri Kontinen of Finland. She followed it up with another final appearance a year later and reaching the last eight in the women’s doubles in 2018. In singles, she has three WTA titles to her name and was as high as 38 in the world ranking at a point in 2015.
In the last three years, most of her success has come on the ITF level. She won two ITF events last year but has struggled as soon as she steps to WTA events. She went out in the opening round of 11 WTA events last year and ended the season with a win-loss record of 27-23.
Elise Mertens v Heather Watson Predictions & Tips
Mertens will be keen to avenge the loss from Hobart. Watson has shown that she has the game to trouble the Belgian and is in impressive form coming in the match. It is likely to be a tight contest, but Mertens should progress eventually.
Tip: Mertens to win in three sets: 3/1 (Click here to get these odds with bet365)
You can watch & bet on Mertens v Watson on Thursday, January 23 here. . Get the latest tennis predictions and tips here.
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