Oksana Selekhmeteva
Russia’s Oksana Selekhmeteva will take on No.2 seed Varvara Gracheva in the Round of 16 at the WTA 125K Paris 2023 event
Selekhmeteva is a regular on the ITF tour and has made only a handful of appearances at the WTA senior level. In fact, this happens to be her first WTA event since a first-round exit from the Australian Open earlier this year. The 20-year-old has made an impressive start to her campaign in Rome.
She fought back from a set down to win 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 against Austria’s Sinja Kraus in her opening match. This tournament is a great learning curve for the Russian youngster and it remains to be seen if she can pull off an upset against her compatriot Varvara Gracheva in their upcoming encounter.
Varvara Gracheva is an emerging star in the women’s tennis circuit. She is currently ranked World No.46 in WTA singles and has been drawn as the second seed in the WTA 125K Paris tournament. However, the Russian has not been in the best form of late. She has come to this event at the back of two consecutive first-round exits from her previous tournaments – the Madrid Open and the Italian Open.
Gracheva won her opening encounter against local favourite Carole Monnet in convincing fashion. Despite suffering a minor hiccup in the second set, the 22-year-old emerged victorious 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. She now faces a tricky challenge against fellow Russian Selekhmeteva in the Round of 16. Gracheva is one of the favourites for the title in Paris but it remains to be seen if she can go all the way and clinch the title.
Date – Wednesday, 17th May
Court Type – Clay outdoor surface
Telecast – Tennis Channel
Start Time – To be Announced
Location – Paris
Match details – Round of 16
Selekhmeteva and Gracheva have never played each other before on the WTA Tour. This is the first professional clash between the two players. On paper, Gracheva is the clear favourite going into this match both in terms of experience and rankings. It will be an uphill task for the rookie Russian in this encounter, but she’s expected to put up a strong fight. However, Gracheva might just prove too hot to hand and we are predicting a win in straight sets for Varvara Gracheva.
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