Russia's Liudmila Samsonova reacts after a point against Zheng Qinwen of China during the women's singles final of the Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament in Tokyo on September 25, 2022. (Photo by Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP)
Italy’s Jasmine Paolini will take on 18th seed Liudmila Samsonova in the first round of the Australian Open
Italian Jasmine Paolini is currently ranked World No.63 in WTA singles. She is coming into this tournament as an underdog but she is no pushover. Paolini played two warm-up events in Australia leading to the Grand Slam and suffered relatively early round exits in both of them.
In her previous event, the Hobart International, Paolini defeated Patricia Tig 6-3, 6-1 in the first round. She lost to compatriot Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the second round without putting up much of a fight. At Adelaide International, she lost in the first round of qualifying against Hungary’s Anna Bondar. She will certainly be looking to put up a better show at the Australian Open.
Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova is seeded No.18 in the tournament and is coming into the event with high expectations. Samsonova had a stellar 2022 season, winning three titles and reaching the fourth round of the US Open. She also broke into the top 20 of the WTA rankings, securing a career-best ranking of World No.19. She will be hoping to take it a step further in 2023.
She played two warm-up events leading to the Grand Slam – the Adelaide International I and Adelaide International II. She had disappointing outings in both events. At Adelaide International, she won one match and exited from the Round of 16 while at her next event, she failed to win a single match.
Details:
Date – Tuesday, 17th January
Court Type – Outdoor Hard Court
Telecast – Sony Sports Network
Start Time – 08:45 am IST
Venue – 1573 Arena
Match details – First Round
Samsonova and Paolini have played each other once before on the WTA tour. Samsonova emerged victorious in that sole encounter and leads the overall head-to-head 1-0. Samsonova is the clear favourite going into this match both in terms of experience and rankings. It will be an uphill task for Paolini in this encounter but he will pose a tough challenge. We are predicting a win in straight sets for Liudmila Samsonova.
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