Belgium's Elise Mertens returns the ball to US' Coco Gauff during their women's singles match on day eight of the Roland-Garros Open tennis tournament at the Court Philippe-Chatrier in Paris on May 29, 2022. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP) (Photo by THOMAS SAMSON/AFP via Getty Images)
Three-time Grand Slam champion in doubles – Elise Mertens takes on the 21-year-old Moyuka Uchijima in the quarter-finals of the Jasmin Open on Friday.
The 26-year-old has not had a great season in the singles circuit. She managed to reach the quarter-finals in the St. Petersburg Open and the fourth rounds at the Australian Open, the French Open, and Wimbledon but other than these sporadic performances, there isn’t anything to write home about.
Mertens has won two of her matches so far at the Jasmin Open in contrasting styles. In the round of 32, she completely outplayed Jacqueline Cristian en route to winning the encounter in straight sets 6-1, 6-1. Mertens came up against Despina Papamichail in the round of 16. The Greek tennis pro managed to win a closely-contested first set but Mertens pulled up her socks and bagged the next two sets with a dominant display.
The Japanese qualifier has come off age at the Jasmin Open so far. She is yet to drop a set from the qualifiers and will look to continue her dream run at the tournament.
Uchijima defeated Nigina Abduraimova in a one-sided qualifying match. In the round of 32, Uchijima managed to get past Kamilla Rakhimova in straight sets 6-3, 6-3. The promising youngster stunned the world No. 41 Petra Martic in the round of 16 in straight sets 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) to punch her ticket to the quarter-finals.
The head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 0-0 as the two players have not crossed paths as yet.
Prediction: Elise Mertens to win in three sets.
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