Two Frenchwomen, Jessika Ponchet and Clara Burel face each other in the quarterfinals of the WTA Angers Arena Loire Open on Friday.
Jessika Ponchet
The 26-year-old has reached her sixth quarterfinal in 2022. Ponchet did not come into the tournament on a high as she was ousted in the round of 32 of the WTA Andorra Open last month.
The Frenchwoman has managed to turn things around with her grit and determination. Ponchet won her first match at Angers against Katarina Zavatska in a riveting three-set affair that ended 7-5, 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (7-3). Ponchet followed it up with a relatively convincing win against Belgian qualifier Greet Minnen in the round of 16. The match eventually finished in straight sets 7-5, 6-2 in favor of Ponchet.
Clara Burel
The former junior world No. 1 has had a tough time so far in the tournament. She hasn’t won one-sided matches as both her outings so far were decided in the third set. In both matches, Burel showed tremendous resilience and impressed fans as well as critics.
The 21-year-old managed to bounce back from a crushing loss in the first set to defeat Karolina Muchova in three sets 2-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3. In the round of 16, Burel faced 8th seed Varvara Gracheva. After winning a closely-contested first set, Burel dropped the second set. The match went into the decisive third set where Burel comprehensively secured the win and went on to secure victory 2-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3.
Head-to-Head and Prediction
The head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 0-0 as Clara Burel and Jessika Ponchet have not faced each other as yet. However, they teamed up at the 2020 French Open and lost in the first round against the team of Katerina Siniakova and Barbora Krejcikova.
Prediction: Clara Burel to win in three sets.
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