Saturday, June 26, 2021

Wimbledon first round matches of interest

There are several interesting first rounds in the 2021 Wimbledon draw, just as there were in the French Open draw. Here are some of them:

Katarina Siniakova vs. Jo Konta (27): The Bad Homburg finalist meets the hometown star. Siniakova was most impressive in Bad Homburg.

Clara Tauson vs. Barbora Krejcikova (14): If you haven't seen Tauson play, here's your opportunity--and she gets none other than the French Open champion.

Leylah Fernandez vs. Alona Ostapenko: The young Canadian star will face off against Eastbourne champion Ostapenko, who has reached the semifinals before, and who has really cleaned up her game in the past few months (and weeks).

Alize Cornet vs. Bianca Andreescu (5): I don't think this needs any explanation.

Karolina Pliskova (5) vs. Tamara Zidensek: This is no walk in the grass for Pliskova; Zidensek has proven herself to be a very tough opponent.

Sloane Stephens vs. Petra Kvitova (10): The former U.S. Open champion faces the two-time Wimbledon champion. Stephens is 2-1 against Kvitova, but they have never played one another on grass.

Iga Swiatek (7) vs. Hsieh Su-Wei: Swiatek hasn't exactly been on fire lately, what with her Paris injury, so drawing a trickster like Hsieh probably isn't her idea of a fun first round.

Kiki Mladenovic vs. Elena Rybakina (18): Mladenovic remains inconsistent, but--on a good day-- she could turn this into a match worth watching.

Monica Niculescu (Q) vs. Aryna Sabalenka (2):  These two have never played each other, so this will be Sabalenka's first time to experience the sometimes maddening effects of Niculescu's game.

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