Ekaterina Alexandrova seeks her first Grand Slam victory of 2024 when she takes on Emma Raducanu in Monday's first-round match at Wimbledon.
While the No.22 seed has had a mixed grass-court season in the lead-up to their match-up on centre court, the Russian hopes to overcome a partisan crowd and the returning Briton after her injury hell.
Match preview
When Alexandrova defeated Lesia Tsurenko in the second round at the 2023 US Open, she probably did not think that would be her last win at a major.
However, the Russian exited early at the Australian Open, falling in three sets to Laura Siegemund Down Under before losing in straight sets to Viktoriya Tomova at Roland Garros.
Aiming to be third-time lucky in 2024, the 29-year-old hopes to avoid another swift elimination at a Grand Slam, keen to match last year's run to the fourth round after never previously playing a third match at the Championships.
Her form in the lead-up to this year's Wimbledon began commendably at a WTA 250 event in the Netherlands, where the world No. 22 reached the semi-finals before losing in three sets to Liudmila Samsonova.
Little has gone her way since, underlined by second-round exits in Berlin and Bad Homburg, falling to Coco Gauff and Donna Vekic, respectively.
Her opponent has had a much superior showing in preparation for Wimbledon, with Raducanu reaching the semi-final in Nottingham before losing to Britain's highest-ranked women's player Katie Boulter in three sets before following that up with a pair of victories at Eastbourne.
While defeating Sloane Stephens in the first round at Eastbourne was admirable, eliminating world No. 5 Jessica Pegula was even better, as it marked the one-time Slam winner's first-ever top-10 victory.
Keen to build on her four wins on grass, the 21-year-old Wild Card entry returns to the Championships after last year's absence hoping to avoid exiting early on home soil.
Much time has passed since the 2021 US Open champion won her first major in her teens, and the unseeded player aims for a commendable run after her injury hell.
Raducanu is feeling positive about her form and fitness again, and the home player hopes her body holds out on Monday when she hopes to feed off the crowd's energy on centre court.
Head To Head
Monday's meeting will be the first between the pair on the WTA Tour, and the match-up poses interesting questions.
The more experienced Russian has hitherto endured a mixed season, winning 17 of her 33 matches in 2024 — a 51.5% win rate. Her opponent's year has been slightly better, with Raducanu notching 11 wins from 19 singles matches this season, a 58% success rate.
We say: Raducanu to win in three sets
While Monday's match is close to call, two things could aid Raducanu on her Wimbledon return: the home crowd and her form leading up to the Championships as the 2021 US Open champion seeks to extend Alexandrova's winless run at Slams in 2024.
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