Top seed Zhang Shuai and fifth seed Anhelina Kalinina will collide in the quarterfinals of the Open de Limoges on Thursday.
The 33-year-old has bounced back strongly after crashing out in the first round of the WTA Angers Arena Loire Open that ended last week. The experienced campaigner has oozed class so far in the tournament after dropping the first set of her first-round encounter against Jessika Ponchet.
Ponchet came into the tournament on the back of an impressive campaign in Angers, where she reached the semifinal. She outplayed Shuai in the first set but the Chinese veteran bounced back strongly to win the match 2-6, 6-2, 6-3. In the second round, Zhang outclassed Russian qualifier Ekaterina Reyngold and won the match in straight sets 6-1, 6-3.
The Ukrainian tennis pro came into the tournament on the back of a decent campaign in Angers, where she lost in the semifinals against experienced German player Anna-Lena Friedsam. Kalinina has continued her good form in the tournament so far and won her matches comprehensively.
The 25-year-old began her campaign in Limoges with a thumping 6-4, 6-0 win against young Frenchwoman Carole Monnet. In the round of 16, Kalinina carried on from where she left off and completely annihilated French qualifier, Jenny Lim. Nothing went in favor of Lim as she was thoroughly outplayed. The match ended 6-0, 6-0 in favor of Kalinina.
The head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 0-0 as the two players have never faced each other as yet.
Prediction: Zhang Shuai to win in three sets.
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