Two unseeded players, Katie Volynets and Peyton Stearns square off in the quarterfinals of the 2023 ATX Open on Friday.
The 21-year-old had reached a WTA quarterfinal for the first time in her young career. She has shown great determination and fighting spirit so far in the tournament. Volynets began her campaign in the ATX Open with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 win against Alison Riske-Amritraj in the round of 32.
In the round of 16, Volynets took on 3rd seed Anastasia Potapova. After losing the first set, Volynets stormed back into the match and bagged the second set without much fuss. The third set was special. Potapova cruised to a 5-0 lead. However, Volynets didn’t get bogged down and bounced back to win the next 7 games. The match eventually ended 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 in favor of the young American player.
The American youngster will remember the 2023 ATX Open fondly as she notched up her first tour-level win in the tournament. In the round of 32, she won an epic battle against qualifier Katie Boulter. The match ended in 3 hours and 22 minutes as Stearns won 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (7-5).
In the round of 16, Stearns got the better of Sweden’s Mirjam Bjorklund in straight sets 6-3, 7-5. The 21-year-old Stearns has committed 5 double faults in each of her two matches thus far. She would love to reduce the number a tad in the upcoming encounter.
The two players had met each other once in the qualifiers of an ITF event in 2018. Volynets won the match 6-2, 6-4 and leads the head-to-head scoreline 1-0.
Prediction: Katie Volynets to win in three sets.
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