Fourth seed Ana Bogdan squares off against young Russian Anna Blinkova in the quarterfinals of the Open de Limoges on Thursday.
The Romanian star came into the tournament after enjoying a two-month break from tennis. The time-off seems to have worked wonders for the experienced campaigner as she has looked quite clinical so far in Limoges. Bogdan has won both her matches in straight sets and with relative ease.
In the first round, Bogdan eased past Lucrezia Stefanini in a one-sided affair. The match ended 6-1, 6-2 as Bogdan’s campaign got off to a flying start. In the round of 16, Bogdan got the better of young American talent, Katrina Scott 6-3, 7-5. The world No. 54 will be oozing with confidence after the two dominating wins.
The 24-year-old won her first WTA singles title a couple of months ago in the Transylvania Open. She only won one match in the following two events prior to Open de Limoges. However, her campaign has been a good one so far as she has also won both her matches in straight sets.
Blinkova defeated former Grand Slam champion Sofia Kenin in the first round in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. Taking confidence from this solid victory, Blinkova defeated Belgium’s Greet Minnen 7-6 (7-4), 7-5. The match turned out to be a close affair as the scoreline suggests but the talented Russian managed to hold her nerves to get the win.
The head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 2-0 in favor of Ana Bogdan. She defeated Blinkova in their most recent encounter at an ITF event in France this year. Bogdan and Blinkova have faced each other in a couple of qualifying matches and they have a 1-1 record.
Prediction – Ana Bogdan to win in three sets.
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