The world No. 36 and number six seed, Shuai Zhang of China faces British player Heather Watson who is ranked 70th in the world in the second round of the 2021 Birmingham International on Wednesday, June 16. Get the live streaming options of this Shuai Zhang v Heather Watson match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Shuai Zhang v Heather Watson Head to Head
The pair have met four times before, and Zhang leads their head-to-head series by three matches to one. Zhang has won all their three matches on hard courts, whilst Watson won their only match on clay,
They have never played on grass before.
Also Read:
Nottingham Finalist Zhang Showing Form
Last week, Zhang reached the final in Nottingham, eventually losing to Johanna Konta.
It was a welcome return to form for the Chinese woman, who, prior to that tournament, had only won a single match all year, and that was in Strasbourg last month.
Perhaps it is no coincidence, that it was on grass, the surface on which she reached the quarter-final at Wimbledon two years ago, before losing to the eventual champion Simona Halep.
She carried that form into Birmingham, with a comfortable first round win over the qualifier, Vitalia Diatchenko from Russia.
Zhang began well, breaking the Russian in the opening game of the match. Diatchenko hit back to level, but two more breaks gave the Chinese woman the first set.
The second set began in a similar fashion to the first, but, with the scores level, both women suddenly struggled to hold serve at the end of which sequence, Zhang was given the opportunity to serve of the match.
She made no mistake, sealing the win with her first match point.
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Watson Needs Better Results in Singles
The Wimbledon Mixed Doubles Champion, and a quarter-finalist in the doubles two years later, Watson has not been in anything like that form this year, and has failed to get beyond the second round of any event she has entered.
That sequence included Nottingham last week, where it was at trat stage that she was beaten in straight sets by compatriot Katie Boulter.
Nor did she have a straightforward passage through to the second round in Birmingham was pushed close by the Swiss player Viktorija Golubic on Monday, the world 71.
It was Watson who was the first to drop her serve and, although she fought back to level, two more dropped serves was enough to give the Swiss the advantage.
However, Watson soon found herself two breaks to the good in the second set, and, although she surrendered one of them, another break after a marathon seventh game enabled her to level the contest.
The momentum had shifted by this time and Watson again broke Golubic at the start of the third set, She underlined that with a further break and although Golubic saved one match pint, Watson earned herself two more next game and converted the second of them.
Zhang v Watson Prediction and Tip
Zhang has not only the better head-to-head record, but she has also discovered her grass form again, whereas Watson seems to be struggling. Despite Watson having home advantage, Zhang will start the favourite for this match.
Tip: Zhang to win: 4/6 (Click Here to Bet with bet365)
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The 2021 Birmingham Open will be played from June 14-20. You can watch & bet on these matches here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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