Who is Ekaterina Alexandrova?

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Alexandrova defeated former World No.1 Karolina Pliskova in the ongoing WTA Charleston Open

Ekaterina Alexandrova is a Russian professional tennis player, currently ranked 43rd in the world. Alexandrova has grabbed the attention of the tennis community after pulling off a stunning 6-3, 6-1 victory against World No.8 Karolina Pliskova in the Round of 16 of the Charleston Open.

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Alexandrova made her professional debut on the WTA circuit in 2016. She has won 1 WTA title in her career so far – the 2020 Shenzhen Open. The 27-year old has the highest ever career ranking of 20 in Women’s singles, which she achieved in 2020. She has participated in all the Grand Slams but has never gone beyond the third round.

Alexandrova is presently playing at the Charleston Open and is scheduled to face Poland’s Magda Linette in the quarter-finals tomorrow. The Russian caused a major upset against the 3rd seed in the tournament, Karolina Pliskova. Going into the match, Alexandrova was the clear underdog both in terms of WTA rankings and head-to-head records. Before today’s encounter, Pliskova and Alexandrova had played each other three times on the WTA tour. On all three occasions, Pliskova won convincingly and maintained a 3-0 head-to-head record against the Russian.

Can Ekaterina Alexandrova win the Charleston Open?

Alexandrova will be high on confidence after her win against much higher ranked Pliskova. The Russian will look to carry the momentum forward and take it one match at a time. In the next round, Alexandrova will face unseeded Magda Linette and will fancy her chances of a victory. It will certainly not be a cakewalk for the Russians though. Linette herself is in good form and is coming off a thrilling 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 Round of 32 victories against 7th seed Leylah Fernandez.

It will be an uphill task if she has to go all the way and win this WTA 500 event. She could potentially face Spain’s Paula Badosa (2nd seed) and 4th seed Ons Jabeur in the latter rounds.

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