Local crowd favourite Wang Xiyu will be seeking a place in the round of 32 at the Wuhan Open on Tuesday when she takes on Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva.
Andreeva was beaten 1-6 4-6 by Ashlyn Krueger in the round of 64 at the US Open this past summer, while Xiyu lost her most recent tournament encounter to Laura Siegemund at the Thailand Open 6-7 6-4 6-7.
Match preview
This year, we have seen a sample size of what 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva is capable of, though she has also shown that there is plenty of room for her to grow.
The Russian made the French Open semi-finals earlier this year, where she was beaten in straight sets by Jasmine Paolini, though Andreeva has lost her opening match in three of her last six tournament appearances since then.
She had not lost her opening match on a hard court surface since March, when Katie Volynets took her out in the round of 128 of the BNP Paribas Open while making the Cincinnati Open quarter-finals, where Iga Swiatek took her out in a three-set nail-biter.
Andreeva has played 38 matches this year, winning 63.5% of her first serves and boasting a first serve winning percentage of 65%.
Meanwhile, the young Russian has won 47.3% of her return points in 2024 and has converted 51.4% of her break point opportunities.
Wang Xiyu will hope the home crowd can help reverse her recent misfortunes, with the Chinese player struggling with her form over the past few months.
She has not advanced beyond her second match in the last four tournaments that she has appeared in, losing her opener at the US Open this summer to French qualifier Diane Parry in straight sets.
While she has suffered her share of early exits on the hard court, her best finish of the year also occurred on that surface when Xiyu made the ATX final, where she was beaten by her Chinese compatriot Yue Yuan in two sets.
Her aggressive service game has often led her to commit numerous unforced errors, registering 143 double faults in 2024 while hitting 124 aces.
More often than not, it is her first serve which has rescued her, currently with a first serve percentage of 64.8% and winning 71.8% of her service games in 2024.
Head To Head
Wimbledon (2023) - First Round: Andreeva wins 6-4 3-6 7-5
When these two women met for the first and only time to date at the All England Club last year, Xiyu made 45 unforced errors, while the Russian won nine of her 10 break point opportunities to advance.
We say: Andreeva to win in three sets
Xiyu seems to have difficulty handling big stages, and we believe the expectations she will have in front of the Chinese public may be too much for her to handle.
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