Top seed Jelena Ostapenko locks horns with world No. 141 Anastasia Gasanova in the round of 16 of the Korea Open 2022 on Thursday.
Former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko started the year on a strong note as she made it to the semifinals in St. Petersburg. Ostapenko followed it up with a great performance at the Dubai Tennis Championships as she won the title after defeating Veronika Kudermetova in the final. At the Qatar Open, she made it to the semifinals before going down to Anett Kontaveit. She struggled with some indifferent form in the next few tournaments before returning with a bang at the Eastbourne International. The Latvian star lost in the final against Petra Kvitova.
Following the impressive showing at Eastbourne International, Ostapenko has once again suffered from a lack of form and failed to progress beyond the second round in three of her last four tournaments. In the first round of the Korea Open, Ostapenko had to use all her experience to survive a scare against young Korean Boyoung Jeong.
The 23-year-old has shown glimpses of promise but there has not been a lot to write home about. She began with a decent campaign in Adelaide, where she reached the round of 16. The Russian tennis pro lost 7 consecutive qualifying matches in as many tournaments. She lost in the first round at the Charleston open and an ITF event in the USA.
Gasanova finally managed a win in the first round of the WTA 125 event in Paris. She also reached the quarterfinal in another WTA 125 event in Makarska and an ITF event in the USA in August. At the recently-concluded Chennai Open, Gasanova pulled off a huge upset when she defeated top seed Alison Riske-Amritraj in the first round before losing in the second. In the first round in Korea, Gasanova defeated Astra Sharma 7-5, 7-5.
The head-to-head currently stands at 0-0 as Anastasia Gasanova and Jelena Ostapenko have never faced each other as yet.
Prediction: Jelena Ostapenko to win in straight sets.
More Tennis news
Follow our dedicated Tennis page for instant Tennis news and updates