The opening round matches at the 2019 WTA Guangzhou Open 2019 will be played on Monday, September 16 and couple of the seeded players will be in action on the day. Latest Aliaksandra Sasnovich v Aleksandra Krunic & Ons Jabeur v Bernarda Pera tips and predictions with their previews along with others can be found below.
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Aliaksandra Sasnovich v Aleksandra Krunic Preview
In their only previous meeting Aleksandra Krunic defeated Aliaksandra Sasnovich in straight sets but that was a match on the clay court of an ITF event way back in 2012. Not sure one can really read too much into that but what can definitely look at are their respective rankings.
Sasnovich is a seeded player here, having risen to 47th in the world. On the other hand, Krunic has seen so much recent struggle that it’s tough to see how can she get out of the rut she is in. 31 matches played this season and 21 defeats while nine encounters on hard court surfaces have led to just one win.
She didn’t win a single match on the US Open swing and her only win on this surface all season came way back in January in Melbourne.
And while Sasnovich has won just 14 of the 25 matches she’s played on hard courts, she is a heavy favourite to go the distance and easily at that.
Tip: Sasnovic to win in straight sets: 19/20 (888Sport)
Ons Jabeur v Bernarda Pera Preview
Again, much like the match above, these two have played just once before and Ons Jabeur was a winner on clay. Again, it was in straight sets, in an ITF tournament and a few years earlier, which makes it tough to take at its face value.
The difference on the WTA rankings charts between these two players isn’t as much as the previous pair. Jabeur, who after a long struggle on hard courts this year, made it as far as the third round with a win over Sasnovich, before she even manage to take a set off Karolina Pliskova, has lost more than she has won on it.
71st-ranked Pera was a semifinalist at this event last year and starts off with a quarter-final appearance at the New York Open. She was ousted in the first round at the US Open but with a few good showings on clay before the USO series, she might have the confidence and game to get past her opponent.
Tip: Pera to win: 59/50 (888Sport)
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Marie Buzkova v Fang Ying Xun Preview
The 58th-ranked Marie Bouzkova will be up against Chinese qualifier Fang Ying Xun in her first round match here. Xun, a 24-year-old but ranked 238th in the world, needed a couple of wins in the qualifiers to make it through here. However, she is yet to win a match in the main draw of a WTA competition over the $125k and that will be the key when she takes on 21-year-old opponent.
Bouzkova has had a good year so far, and surprised everyone by reaching the semi-final at the Toronto Open. That run included wins over Simona Halep, Jelena Ostapenko and Sloane Stephens, not to mention a couple of qualifiers as well.
What that performance did was to take her from a season low of 120th this year to her current ranking in the top 60. While she lost in the opening round at US Open, she will be a heavy favourite to not just win here but also in straight sets.
Tip: Buzkova to win in straight sets: 4/9 (888Sport)
Tereza Martincova v Samantha Stosur Preview
This is a match of the equals, what with the 133rd-ranked Tereza Martincova going up against Samantha Stosur, ranked six placed behind her. Martincova is 10 years Stosur’s junior and that is also reflected in the fact they have never played each other before this.
Featuring on the lower circuits and qualifiers, Martincova is 8-4 on hard courts this year to Stosur’s 6-10. Stosur did make the second round last week at Nanchang after failing to qualify for the New York Open and falling at the first hurdle at the US Open.
Martincova also lost her opener at Zhengzhou, and went through the qualifiers only to lose in US Open first round. However, while both players have had an underwhelming season, Martincova has done better in terms of wins overall this year and that should help her going into this encounter.
Tip: Martincova to win: 4/7 (888Sport)