Aryna Sabalenka
We are in for a potential thriller as Aryna Sabalenka and Liumila Samsonova square off in the round of 16 of the Adelaide International on Wednesday.
The Belarusian star is one of the contenders to win the tournament. The second seed played her last match of 2022 in the WTA Finals. She lost the championship match to Caroline Garcia after defeating the mighty Iga Swiatek in the semifinals.
After receiving a first-round bye, the 24-year-old will look to get the new season off to a fine start. Sabalenka will not have fond memories of her last appearance in the Adelaide International as she lost in the round of 16 in 2022 against Kaja Juvan in straight sets 7-6, 6-1. Sabalenka will hope that lightning won’t strike at the same place once again.
The 24-year-old had a nice start to the new season. She faced Chinese veteran Zhang Shuai in the round of 32. After losing a tight first set, Samsonova outplayed Shuai in the second and third sets to win the encounter 5-7, 6-3, 6-0.
The road doesn’t get any easier for the world No. 20, but considering her gritty nature, she wouldn’t have liked it any differently. Samsonova fired in a whopping 17 aces during the match against Shuai and she would like to keep the aces going against her next opponent.
The head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 1-0 in favor of Liudmila Samsonova. She defeated Sabalenka in three sets at the 2022 Guadalajara Open.
Prediction: Liudmila Samsonova to win in three sets.
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