Elise Mertens v Qiang Wang WTA Qatar Open Live Streaming, Preview, H2H and Prediction: Defending Champion Takes on Chinese Number One

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Elise Mertens of Belgium, the number sixteen seed and defending champion, will play Qiang Wang of China in the first round of the WTA Qatar Open on Tuesday, February 25. The match will be played at 2 pm local time (12 noon BST). 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

The pair have played each other five times before, with Wang leading their head to head series by three matches to two. Wang won their first three meetings, in Quanzhou in 2016, and at Indian Wells in 2018 and 2019. However, since then, Mertens beat the Chinese woman at Wimbledon last year, and, just last week, in the first round in Dubai.

Mertens, Defending Champion and Doubles Specialist

24-year-old Mertens is the current Belgian number one, and has won five WTA events, amongst them this title last year, where she beat Simona Halep in the final.

However, most of her success last year came on the doubles court, where, with partner Aryna Sabalenka, she won the Sunshine Double doubles of Indian Wells and Miami. The pair then went on to win the US Open, beating Ashleigh Bart and Victoria Azaranka in the final.

She has enjoyed a reasonable start to 2010, although it did not begin in the best fashion as she lost to Heather Watson of Great Britain in the second round in Hobart. However, she got to the quarter-finals in Melbourne for the first time in her career, before losing to Halep, and then helped Belgium qualify for the finals of the Fed Cup as they overcame Kazakhstan.

After beating Wang in the first round in Dubai last week, her challenge was ended by her doubles partner, Sabalenka.

Wang, the Top Ranked Chinese Player

Wang, following a run to the quarter finals at the US Open last year, her best ever showing at a Grand Slam, reached a career high WTA ranking of 12 in the world. Although she has slipped back to 28 currently, she is still the top ranked Chinese player.

The winner of 2 WTA titles in 2018, both on native Chinese soil in Jiangxi and Guangzhou, Wang endured a difficult start to the season, losing in the first round of Shenzen to Ekaterina Alexandrova, and again in Adelaide, beaten by Angelique Kerber.

However, she got to the fourth round in Melbourne for the first time, and, in the process she avenged her defeat by Serena Williams in their Flushing Meadows quarter final. Her run was then ended by Ons Jabeur, who became an Arab heroine in the process.

Since then she reached the quarter-finals in Hua Hin, but was beaten by the Swiss qualifier Leonie Kung. Last week in Dubai she was well beaten by Mertens in their first round match.

Elise Mertens v Qiang Wang Predictions & Tips

Although Wang has the better head to head record, Mertens has won their last two matches, the most recent of which was just a week ago. She won easily then, and can be expected to do so again.

Tip: Mertens to win in straight sets: 3/5 (Click here to get these odds with Unibet)

You can watch & bet on Mertens v Wang on Tuesday, February 25 here. . Get the latest tennis predictions and tips here.

About Andy Dalziel 1773 Articles
Andy is English but a long time resident of Cyprus. When not writing about tennis and other sports, he is also a Chartered Accountant. In his spare moments, he spends more time than is healthy worrying about his beloved Arsenal.

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