Fourth seed Sara Errani locks horns with Russian teenager Diana Shnaider in the round of 32 of the Montevideo Open. We might get to see an intriguing battle of youth versus experience.
The 18-year-old has improved her WTA ranking immensely over the course of the season. She began the season as No. 864 and has gone up to a career-high ranking of 158 with some impressive performances.
She reached her first WTA 125 quarterfinal at the Copa LP Chile earlier this month. Shnaider followed it up with another quarter-final run at the WTA 125 event in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In both quarter-final matches, she lost to Danka Kovinic. Shnaider will ride high on confidence but she needs to be wary as her upcoming opponent has enough experience to stop her in her stride.
The Italian veteran has won one tournament this season and finished runner-up in another. She most recently played in the WTA 125 event in Buenos Aires and reached the quarterfinals, where she was ousted by third seed and eventual champion Panna Udvardy in an intense match that was decided in the third-set tie-break.
Errani, however, won the doubles event in Buenos Aires alongside Irina Bara. They defeated the team of You Xiaodi and Jan Su-jeong in the finals. The 35-year-old will hope to use her experience to get the better of a confident Diana Shnaider.
The head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 0-0 as the two players have not faced each other before.
Prediction: Diana Shnaider to win in three sets.
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