The WTA Ostrava Open will have some great matches this coming Thursday. Four seeded players will be in action and will look to advance to the next round. Here are the matches that will be played in the round of 16 this Thursday.
Magda Linette vs Elena Rybakina
This will be the first encounter between these two players who have had some mixed results throughout the year. Nonetheless, this will be a great battle that will kickstart the day in Ostrava. The Polish woman is coming into this match red hot as she has not lost a set as she had to come through the qualifying stages to enter the main draw.
Now she will face her toughest opponent thus far in the World No.16. The Kazakh is started the tournament with a tricky opponent in Veronika Kudermetova. In the end it was a breeze for the seventh seed in this tournament. Now she faces Linette, who has more playing time than her in which can help her or make her more fatigued coming into this match.
However, both women come in great form and will want to advance to the next round.
Maria Sakkari vs Jelena Ostapenko
These two players have played twice in the WTA Tour, and the series is tied one apiece. They first met in 2017 in Charleston on clay. Then, they met at the Australian Open in 2019 in the first round. Both of these matches went the distance, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if this third match goes the distance as well.
Both of these players are some heavy hitters and will no doubt try to outpower one another. Ostapenko is coming from playing in the final in Luxembourg this past Sunday losing in three sets to Clara Tauson. On the other hand, Sakkari hadn’t played a tournament since losing to the eventual champion of the US Open, Emma Raducanu, in the semifinals.
No question this match will be an even one and we are in for a treat to see who moves on to the next round.
Tereza Martincova vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
It will be the first time these two women will face off and it promises to be a good one. The Czech is coming from a tough first round match against fellow compatriot Katerina Siniakova. The match went the distance and, in the end, Martincova came out victorious in a dramatic way.
The Russian comes from defeating Ana Konjuh in straight sets. The first set went into a tie breaker in which the Russian won seven games to three. The second set was a one-way traffic in favor of Pavlyuchenkova.
Both ladies are heavy hitters and can mix it up if needed to. It will definitely be a great match and we will see if the home crowd will help Martincova advance to the next round.
Sara Sorribes Tormo vs Belinda Bencic
The Spaniard is coming from a straight sets win against Anastasia Zakharova. She played very well but now it will be a much tougher task as she will meet against the Olympic Gold Medalist Belinda Bencic.
The Swiss is playing some high-quality tennis and will try to continue her great form against the Spaniard. These two have not played against each other in singles, but they have met against each other in doubles. That was back in 2019 and both took a win from one another. Indeed, Bencic is the heavy favorite coming into this match, but Sorribes Tormo is a streaky player and very tricky to play against. It will be an interesting battle and we will see who will come on top.
Jill Teichmann vs Alison Riske
First encounter between these two and it looks like an even match. Teichmann comes from an easy win against Angelique Kerber in straight sets. The same cannot be said about the American who had to dig deep to overcome Fiona Ferro in three sets.
Both ladies won in different ways but should be coming in confident to this match. Riske is coming from playing in the final against Jasmine Paolini in Portoroz. She has the advantage of coming in more rhythm than her opponent. However, she may be a bit more tired as Teichmann hadn’t played since the US Open.
All things considered, this should be an even encounter that can produce some high quality tennis.
Main Photo from Getty.
