World No. 67 Anna Kalinskaya faces American qualifier CoCo Vandeweghe in the round of 16 of the ATX Open on Thursday.
The Russian youngster has not had a memorable season thus far. She had only 4 wins before she came to play in the ATX Open. Only 2 out of the 4 wins came in the main draw. Prior to the ATX Open, Kalinskaya took part in the Dubai Tennis Championships. However, her journey ended in the first round of qualifying against Jang Su-Jeong.
In the round of 32 of the ATX Open, Kalinskaya squared off against Nao Hibino. The former played well in the first and third sets to win the encounter 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. Kalinskaya converted 5 out of 10 break points in the match. She had 6 double faults against her name, something that she will look to keep a check on, going forward.
The 31-year-old played in the recently-concluded Merida Open. She pulled out during the first round of qualifying against Carol Zhao while trailing 6-7, 0-3.
In the first round of qualifying of the ATX Open, Vandeweghe eased past Lena Papadakis. She followed it up with a hard-fought win against Louisa Chirico in the second round of qualifying. In the round of 32, Vandeweghe convincingly won the first set against Robin Montgomery. The next two sets were highly competitive and both were decided in the tiebreak. The match eventually ended 6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-3) in favor of Vandeweghe. She did not have a great game as far as her serves were concerned. Vandeweghe committed 10 double faults during the match.
The head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 0-0 as the two players have never faced each other as yet.
Prediction: Anna Kalinskaya to win in three sets.
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