Heather Watson v Han Na-lae Live Streaming, Prediction & Preview for WTA Hua Hin 2023: Rare Win Sets up Intriguing Second Round Clash

Jule Niemeier v Heather Watson Predictions, Preview & Tips
Photo Credit: Assaf Yekuel

British player and world number 160 Heather Watson faces the 176th-ranked Han Na-lae of South Korea in the second round of the 2023 WTA Hua Hin Open on Wednesday, February 1. Get the live streaming options of this Heather Watson v Han Na-lae match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.

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Heather Watson v Han Na-lae Head to Head

Watson and Na-lae have never faced off in a competitive match before this.

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Watson Stuns Putintseva

On paper it seemed like a mismatch. On the one side was a player, Yulia Putintseva ranked 44th in the world who had reached the quarterfinal at the Hobart International and the second round of the Australian Open recently.

On the other, Watson had last won a main draw match at Wimbledon last year and had seen her ranking plummet from 56th in the world in 2021 to her current 160th on the charts. And this year too, Watson had featured only in an ITF tournament in Canberra and then lost in the qualifiers at the Australian Open.

Which is why when Putintseva went a set up, albeit in a fighting showing from Watson, the match looked to be going to script.

Instead, Watson fought back to shrug off seven breaks of serve, a manic second set streak of play that saw her lose all her advantage from being 5-1 up and again a final set in which she failed to serve it out at 5-3 before winning the tie-breaker.

Can she now use this confidence-inducing start to stave off a player who has never been ranked better than 149th in the world?

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Na-lae More Tuned in to the ITF Circuit

In all of the previous season, Na-lae won all of a solitary main draw match at the highest and it came at the Korean Open. The rest of times, she dedicated to trying to earn vital WTA Ranking points by featuring on the ITF circuit on which she won two tournaments and was a finalist two other times.

This context is necessary in understanding why Na-lae’s opening round win here is so vital. It levels her WTA win record from the previous season.

Na-lae clinched her second round spot with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 triumph over Elena Gabriela Ruse, who had gone into the match as a 11/20 favourite. The match lasted two hours and 14 minutes.

What was interesting to see is Na-lae lost her serve five times in the match while breaking Ruse just four times. She still managed to win after getting a crucial break of serve in the ninth game which was followed by a tight hold in the next to garner the win.

Watson v Na-lae Prediction and Tip

This could end up being a tough one to call with neither player having shown any kind of form coming into but winning a round against the run of play. We would have to go with Watson for her experience but only just.

Tips:

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The 2023 WTA Hua Hin will be played from January 30 to February 5.  You can get all the tennis betting news with our tennis betting blog here. Also get rest of the tennis match previews here.

About Claire D'Souza 1035 Articles
Fan of all sports but a tennis lover at heart. Bawled her heart out when Federer missed those two Championships points at Wimbledon 2019 but then again, Nadal won 2022 Australian Open from two sets down. Such is life! (yes, loves both Federer and Nadal in equal doses!)

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