Caroline Garcia (WTA -Twitter)
The in-form Caroline Garcia takes on the Chinese veteran Zhang Shuai in the round of 16 of the Toray Pan Pacific Open 2022.
The 28-year-old did not have a great first half of the season. She did manage to reach the semifinals of the Lyon Open but apart from that, there wasn’t much to write home about.
The rub of the green began to go Garcia’s way as she won her second doubles Grand Slam title by defeating Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff in the French Open final. At the Bad Homburg Open, Garcia won her first singles title in three years by defeating Bianca Andreescu in the final. The Frenchwoman put up a solid performance to reach the semis at the Ladies Open Lausanne. Garcia bagged another title at the Polan Open after defeating Ana Bogdan in straight sets in the final. The dream run continued at the Cincinnati Masters as she defeated Petra Kvitova to win the title. Garcia put on a show at Flushing Meadows and reached the semis before being ousted by Ons Jabeur. The second seed is one of the favorites to go the distance in Tokyo.
The Chinese star has had a decent season so far. Shuai bagged her first singles title in close to five years at the Lyon Open. After the triumph, Shuai faced a few first-round exits. She made it to the quarterfinals in Nottingham and the finals in Birmingham. She made it to back-to-back quarterfinals at the Cincinnati Masters and the Tennis in the Land tournament.
In the first round, the 33-year-old comprehensively defeated Japan’s Mai Hontama in straight sets 6-0, 6-3 to set up a clash with Caroline Garcia.
The head-to-head is interestingly tied at 2-2. Garcia won the last encounter which was in the third round in Wimbledon 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5).
Prediction: Caroline Garcia to win in straight sets.
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