World No. 133 Ann Li opens her WTA Montevideo campaign against Serbia’s Natalija Kostic on Tuesday.
The 2017 Junior Wimbledon runner-up began this season on an impressive note as she made it to the semifinals of the Gippsland Trophy. She entered the tournament as the No. 7 seed and eventually lost to Aliaksandra Sasnovich. After that result, Li reached a career-high ranking of 44. Following that tournament, Li has not found her rhythm. She made it beyond the first round at Wimbledon for the first time in her career but lost in the following stage.
The 22-year-old participated in the recently-concluded WTA 125 event in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She progressed to the round of 16 with a win against seventh-seeded Reka Luca Jani. Li was eventually ousted by Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva in the round of 16.
The 28-year-old has had some better results in the second half of the season. She made it to the final in an ITF event in Kazakshtan in July and another one at the Porto Open in September. Other than these results, there hasn’t been much to write home about.
Kostic also took part in the WTA 125 event in Buenos Aires and made it to the main draw by defeating Josefina Estevez in the qualifiers. The Serbian defeated Brenda Fruhvirtova in the round of 32 before going down against Paula Ormaechea.
The head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 0-0 as the two players haven’t faced each other so far.
Prediction: Ann Li to win in three sets.
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