Italy’s Nuria Brancaccio will take on Katie Boulter of the UK in the first qualifying round of the 2023 French Open

Brancaccio is a regular at the ITF level and has only played a handful of WTA tournaments. The 22-year-old is an emerging star on the ITF circuit and has had a decent season. The major highlight from Brancaccio’s season so far came at the ITF Argentina event earlier this year in January. She went all the way to clinch the title and dropped just one set during the course of the tournament. However, the French Open Qualifiers is definitely a level above any ITF-level event and it will certainly be a tough challenge for the Italian in Paris.

Katie Boulter’s form coming into the match

Katie Boulter is the 24th seed in the qualifying phase of the French Open. She is coming to France at the back of two consecutive runners-up finishes at the ITF Japan events. Boulter has been a regular at the ITF level for a number of years now but she is not often seen in the main draw of WTA tournaments. The 26-year-old would certainly want to use this opportunity and make a mark in Paris.

Boulter is currently ranked World No.154 in the WTA women’s singles rankings. She achieved her career-best ranking of No.82 in 2019 but there has been a gradual decline in her career graph and she has dropped out of the top 100. However, Boulter has done well so far in 2023 and she would look to carry forward the positive momentum to Paris. It remains to be seen if the UK ace can exceed expectations and make it to the main draw of the clay-court Grand Slam.

Details:

Date – Tuesday, 23rd May

Court Type – Clay outdoor surface

Telecast – Tennis Channel

Start Time – To be Announced

Location – Paris

Match details – Qualifiers

Head to head and Predictions

Brancaccio and Boulter have never played each other before on the WTA tour. This is the first professional head to head clash between the two players. On paper, Boulter is the favourite both in terms of form and rankings. However, one can certainly not rule out the promising Italian and she is expected to put up a tough fight. We are predicting a close match with Katie Boulter eventually winning in three sets.

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