Belgian Elise Mertens celebrates after winning a third round game in the women's doubles tournament between Belgian Mertens - Chinese Zhang and Ukrainian Kichenok - Romanian Olaru at the 2022 Wimbledon grand slam tennis tournament at the All England Tennis Club, in south-west London, Britain, Monday 04 July 2022. BELGA PHOTO BENOIT DOPPAGNE (Photo by BENOIT DOPPAGNE / BELGA MAG / Belga via AFP) (Photo by BENOIT DOPPAGNE/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)
4th seed Elise Mertens takes on 8th seed Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Monterrey Open on Friday.
The experienced Belgian has reached the quarterfinals for the first time in 2023. She eased past Diana Shnaider in the round of 32 with a win in straight sets 6-0, 6-4. Mertens had a win percentage of 91 on the first serve and converted 4 out of 5 break points.
In the round of 16, Mertens played well in sets one and three to beat Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. In this match, Mertens’ win percentage on the first serve came down to 68 and she could only convert 6 out of 14 break points but that proved to be enough to take her through to the quarterfinals.
The 22-year-old has been in decent form this season. She has reached her second consecutive quarterfinal and third overall in the season. In the first round, she managed to get past Marina Bassols Ribera in straight sets 7-5, 6-2.
In the round of 16, she showed great maturity to beat the experienced Tatjana Maria in a two-set thriller. Both sets were decided in the tiebreak as Cocciaretto won 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3).
This will be the first meeting between the two players. Therefore, the head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 0-0.
Prediction: Elise Mertens to win in three sets.
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