Elise Mertens of Belgium will taken on China’s Qiang Wang in the first round of the WTA Dubai Tennis Championships on Monday, February 17. The match is not expected to start before 1 pm local time (9 am BST) and you can find the Elise Mertens v Qiang Wang live streaming options along with its preview, head to head and tips here.
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Elise Mertens v Qiang Wang Head to Head
This will be the fifth meeting between the two. And surprisingly Wang leads the tally at 3-1, with all of them coming on the hard courts. The Chinese number one won their first-ever meeting at an ITF event in Quanzhou back in 2016. She has since then also won at Indian Wells in 2018 & 2019. Mertens’ lone victory over Wang came last year at the Wimbledon.
Mertens Would be Targeting a Deep Run This Week
There has been a pattern in the Belgian’s performances this season. She has sailed through the early rounds at all the three tournaments in straight sets but has not been able to go past the last eight. She has a rather impressive 9-3 record this season but a deep run at any of the events has so far eluded her.
The 24-year-old is coming off a relatively modest 2019 after a very successful 2018. She won three titles in 2018 but could only manage one last year at Doha. There were 16 tournaments last year where she failed to win more than one match. She did have a good run at the US Open where she reached the last eight in the singles category as well as won the doubles with Arya Sabalenka.
This is her fourth appearance in Dubai and so far she has failed to get past the second round.
Wang Coming Off a Shock Loss at Hua Tin
The Chinese number one missed a golden opportunity of a title last week at Hua Tin. She lost to world number 283, Leonie Kung in the quarter-finals. The loss would have stung her, even more, considering that she would have been the highest seed left in the tournament had she won the match.
But apart from that disappointing loss, her start to the 2020 season has been rather impressive. She reached the fourth round at the Australian Open and beat Serena Williams in that run. She has been achieving new highs on the tour for the past two seasons.
After winning two titles in 2018, she reached her first-ever Grand Slam quarter-finals last year and reached as high as 12 in the rankings.
Elise Mertens v Qiang Wang Predictions & Tips
Mertens starts this match as a firm favourite. Her issues this season have started late in the tournaments and she has an excellent record on the hard courts in her career. Wang, on the other hand, will take confidence from the fact that she has a very good record against the Belgian. Mertens should be able to get one over a player who has troubled her in the past.
Tip: Mertens to win in straight sets: 11/10 (Click here to get these odds with Unibet)
You can watch & bet on Mertens v Wang on Monday, February 17 here. . Get the latest tennis predictions and tips here.
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