6th seed Tatjana Maria squares off against Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Thailand Open on Friday.
The German veteran has been in sublime form so far in the tournament. She came into the Thailand Open after winning an ITF event in India last month.
In the round of 32 of the Thailand Open, Maria got the better of Alex Eala with a thumping performance. The one-sided encounter ended in straight sets 6-2. 6-2. Maria was exceptional on the serves as she fired in 7 aces and had a win percentage of 75. In the round of 16, the 35-year-old defeated the 22-year-old Dayana Yastremska in another lopsided encounter. The match ended in straight sets 6-0, 6-4 in favor of Maria. She did not manage any ace in this match but had a win percentage of 73 on the first serve.
The 33-year-old has had to fight hard in both the matches she has played so far in the competition. She came into the tournament on the back of a loss in the first round of the Australian Open.
Tsurenko defeated Ysaline Bonaventure in the round of 32 of the Thailand Open in a match where both players struggled with their serve. While Bonaventure had 9 double faults against her name, Tsurenko had 10. The match ended 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in favor of Tsurenko. She went on to beat Anna Kalinskaya in the round of 16. After dishing out a bagel in the first set, Tsurenko saw the 4th seed come back strongly to take a closely-contested second set. The match eventually ended 6-0, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4 as Tsurenko managed to hold on. A good point was the fact that she converted 11 out of 15 break points.
Tatjana Maria and Lesia Tsurenko have faced each other twice so far and the head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 1-1.
Prediction: Tatjana Maria to win in three sets.
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