Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez and Slovenia’s Tamara Zidansek will clash in their second round tie of the 2021 WTA Abu Dhabi on Friday, January 8, with the match likely to begin at around 12 noon local time (8 am BST or 2 am Eastern Time). Get the live streaming options of this Leylah Fernandez v Tamara Zidansek match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Leylah Fernandez v Tamara Zidansek Head to Head
The 87th-ranked Zidansek and the 88th-ranked Fernandez have never played each other before this.
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Fernandez Makes Short Work of Paolini
18-year-old Fernandez needed an hour and 10 minutes to overcome Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in her opening round match, winning 6-4, 6-2 to breeze into the second round.
In a match that saw multiple breaks of serve in both sets, Fernandez did enough to earn her place in the next round, continuing to show the kind of promise she had in the previous season.
Fernandez, who has just one ITF title to her name so far, drew first blood in the fifth game of the opening set when she broke Paolini but was broken back in the eighth game. That, however, did not deter her as she broke right back and then served out the set to go one up.
The second set saw a similar pattern emerging, at least for starters, when Fernandez was the first to break her opponent’s serve but lost her own in the very next game. At 2-2 in the second set, however, Fernandez took control of the encounter as she broke the Italian twice more to ease to a win.
This result comes on the back of some sterling wins last season, which saw the Canadian reach third round at the French Open. Can she repeat that here as well by overcoming her more experienced but similarly-ranked opponent?
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Zidansek Stuns Brady in Amazing Turnaround
Not too many expected Zidansek to cause an upset when she took on Jennifer Brady in the first round here in Abu Dhabi but when the Slovenian was blanked in the first set 6-0, it looked like the encounter was all over bar the shouting.
Instead, the match gave us a curious fightback for the ages, what with Zidansek looking to do to Brady what the American had done to her in the opening set.
Zidansek raced off to a 4-0 lead in the second set, before getting broken but held her nerves to hold on to her remaining serves and level the encounter.
The third set was more tightly fought and both players got ample opportunities to break the other – including one when Zidansek was serving for the match but sole break of the set came in the fifth game and that proved to be a decisive one.
It will be interesting to see if Zidansek can convert the confidence she would have got from this encounter or if it is a flash in the pan.
Fernandez v Zidansek Prediction and Tip
Fernandez is 1/2 to win this while Zidansek starts off at 6/4 but the actual match could finish up a lot closer than this. Tipping the Canadian to win this in three.
Tip: Fernandez to win in three sets: 3/1 (bet365)
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The 2020 Abu Dhabi Open will be played from January 6 to 13. You can watch & bet on the Abu Dhabi Open here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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