The world No. 22 Liudmila Samsonova takes on the world No. 38 Marie Bouzkova in the round of 16 of the Guadalajara Open on Thursday.
Liudmila Samsonova
The Russian youngster did not have a great first half of the season. Apart from a quarter-final appearance in Adelaide and a semi-final appearance in Stuttgart, her results were not one she would have aimed for. However, the tide turned in her favor in the second half of the season. She captured the Citi Open title by defeating veteran Kaia Kanepi in the final in August. In the Tennis in the Land tournament, Samsonova bagged her second title of the season after making light work of Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the final. The 23-year-old won the Japan Open as well with a win against Qinwen Zheng in the final.
Samsonova came into the Guadalajara Open on the back of a disappointing first-round exit against former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu. In the round of 64, Samsonova once again got the better of Kanepi. The former progressed to the second round and took on the world No. 4 Aryna Sabalenka. Samsonova produced a huge upset win as she defeated the Belarussian 6-4, 2-6, 6-2. This was her 20th win in her last 22 matches.
Marie Bouzkova
The 24-year-old has had some decent outings this season but they have been few and far between. Bouzkova showed her class at the Prague Open as she bulldozed her opponents and won the title without dropping a set. She played in the US Open last month. However, after winning the first match against Linda Noskova, she suffered a thrashing at the hands of former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova.
Bouzkova began her Guadalajara campaign against Tereza Martincova. The former bagged the first set in a canter but had to dig deep to not let the match drift into the third set. She eventually won 6-2, 7-5. In the round of 32, Bouzkova took on Camila Osorio. The Colombian had no answers to the efficient Bouzkova as the Colombian suffered a 3-6, 1-6 defeat.
Head-to-Head and Prediction
The head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 1-1. Their most recent meeting was at the 2019 Birmingham Classic, where Bouzkova won the match 6-3, 6-1.
Prediction: Liudmila Samsonova to win in straight sets.
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