The remaining second round matches at the 2019 WTA Nanchang Open will be played on Thursday, September 12 as the top seeded Zhang Shuai takes to court as well. Get the latest Zhang Shuai v Zhu Lin & Elena Rybakina v Xin Wang predictions and tips along with a couple of other match previews.
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Zhang Shuai v Zhu Lin Preview:
As mentioned earlier, the world number 32 Zhang Shuai is the top seed in this competition and will feature in her second round match against fellow Chinese player Zhu Lin for a place in the quarter-final. They have played against each before, twice in fact and the head to head record is tied at 1-1.
The first time they met was in in 2016 in the first round of the Washington Open which Zhang won easily but surprisingly Zhu was a winner the last time they played in this very tournament in 2018. Lin’s fallen to 115th in the world but remains a dangerous opponent, which is why Shuai, although favourite is only short as 8/15 to win this one.
Zhu’s recent showings have been par for the course, qualifying for the New York Open and making the second round and then entering round two at the US Open too. She was a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Thailand’s Peangthan Pliphuech in her opener here and this match could be a lot tougher to call than usual.
Shuai v Lin Tip: Games Handicap Lin Zhu +3.5: 5/6 (888Sport)
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Elena Rybakina v Xin Wang Preview:
It’s been a brilliant year for the 69th-ranked Kazakh who is coming off a three-set win over India’s Ankita Raina in the first round. Other than that, qualification for the US Open, and a title win at the Bucharest Open have been her recent achievements that have helped Rybakina push up to her best ever ranking.
Her opponent in this match, Xin Wang, hasn’t played a lot of tennis at the highest level – she is only 17. However, she has shown she can put up a fight, as was the case in her first round match at the US Open as a qualifier. Or a couple of years ago when she had qualified for the Australian Open by beating her opponent in a playoff coming back from being a set and 5-3 down in the second.
Expecting a hard-fought contest here.
Rybakina v Wang Tip: Three sets in the match: 8/5 (888Sport)
Kristyna Pliskova v Peng Shuai Preview:
The eighth seeded Pliskova will be up against China’s Peng Shuai, who has been around for a while on the circuit. In fact Shuai was a winner in 2014 and 2017, but this year hasn’t been her best with just 17 matches played and only seven won.
This includes a decent run for her at the US Open where, Shuai, who was ranked outside the top 100, needed to win three matches to qualify for the main draw and then beat Varvara Lepchenko in the first round. In this tournament, she defeated the 88th-ranked Paula Badosa to make the second round and could prove to be a handful opponent for Pliskova.
The 81st-ranked Pliskova last won a WTA title in 2016 and was ousted in the second round at the US Open as well. Failure to qualify for Cincinnati Open and a first round loss at Jurmala add up to her problems and it comes as no surprise that Shuai starts a favourite in this one.
Pliskova v Shuai Tip: Shuai to win: 7/10 (888Sport)
Samantha Stosur v Nina Stojanovic Preview:
This will be the first meeting between Stosur and Stojanovic and if one were to look at their rankings to separate them there’s not much to write home about either – Australia’s Stosur is 139th to Stojanovic’s 134th.
Stosur has become more of a doubles specialist now, with her singles game having deteriorated to this extent that the former US Open winner needed a wildcard to feature at the US Open. And then she lost in the first round there, making it three successive losses entering this tournament.
And while she did overcome Arina Rodionova, Stojanovic could be a different kettle of fish here. After having won an ITF tournament in Changsha recently, Stojanovic swept aside the much favoured Wang Yafan in round one here and will be a favourite to complete a straight-set win in this match.
Stosur v Stojanovic Tip: Stojanovic to win in straight sets: 11/8 (888Sport)
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