The talented Katie Swan locks horns with Australia’s Zoe Hives in the group stage of the United Cup on Thursday.
The Briston-born tennis player won 27 singles matches in 2022 while having lost 13. She finished the year ranked world No. 145. Swan won her first ITF title of 2022 in the Dominican Republic in February. She captured her second ITF title in the USA in August. Swan bagged another ITF title in Slovakia in October.
Her best result on the WTA Tour came at the WTA 250 event in Chennai. Swan defeated Arianne Hartono, Anastasia Gasanova, and Nao Hibino to make it to the semis. However, her campaign in India came to an unfortunate end as she had to retire during her match against Magda Linette while trailing 3-0.
The Australian star returned to professional tennis after almost two and a half years at the Australian Open qualifying tournament. She lost in the second round to Emina Bektas. Hives made it to the main draw at Wimbledon for the first time in her career after progressing through the qualifiers.
Hives will look to start the new year on a positive note after failing to impress in 2022. It has to be kept in mind that Hives had a flare-up of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, commonly known as POTS, that kept her out of action for close to two years. It’s great to see her back on the court and she should be given time to get back to her best level.
The head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 0-0 as this will be the first meeting between Zoe Hives and Katie Swan. Expect this to be a cracker of a contest.
Prediction: Katie Swan to win in three sets.
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