The world No. 46 Petra Martic locks horns with world No. 28 Zhang Shuai in the quarter-finals of the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
The Croatian tennis pro has tasted success this season. She won the Ladies Open Lausasanne where she won the tournament having dropped just one set throughout the competition. She came to Japan after being ousted in the third round of the US Open by Victoria Azarenka.
Petra Martic began her campaign with a thumping win in straight sets (6-1, 6-1) against local hope Rina Saigo. In the round of 16, she played some fantastic tennis to knock out Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-4 to set up a clash with Zhang Shuai.
The 33-year-old has also won a title this year. She came out victorious at the Lyon Open. Zhang Shuai came close to winning another title but came up short in the finals in Birmingham against Beatriz Haddad Maia. In the US Open, she defeated the likes of Jil Teichmann, Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, and Rebecca Marino before losing to Coco Gauff in the round of 16.
So far in Japan, the Chinese star has won two matches in contrasting styles. In the first round, she outplayed Mai Hontama to win in straight sets 6-0, 6-3. In the second round, Shuai faced an in-form Caroline Garcia. Shuai overcame a barrage of aces from the Frenchwoman and saved a match point to win the closely-contested encounter 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5).
Petra Martic has a 2-0 lead in the head-to-head against Zhang Shuai. Their last meeting was in the first round of the Miami Open in 2019 where Martic won the match 6-2, 6-1.
Prediction: Zhang Shuai to win in three sets.
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