Get ready to raise a glass to a riveting Italy meet at this Thailand Open tournament, with Varvara Gracheva taking on Taylah Preston. Now, both these players have been duking it out on clay in recent times, but their rackets have sung with distinctly different tunes.
The unseeded Preston has had a mixed bag of late. Losing more matches than she's won, she's got more dents than a used car salesman's demo vehicle. A footnote to her scorecard, though, was her triumph over Kozyreva, where she steamrolled her opponent in straight sets. But generally, she's been on receiving end more often than not.
Meanwhile, Gracheva, currently the 8th seed in the tournament, hasn't exactly been setting the courts on fire either. Recent losses to Gauff, Bouzas Maneiro, and Świątek underline her struggles. The saving grace? Her victories over Tomljanović and Sasnovich, where she exhibited some slivers of her capabilities.
Factoring in their recent performance and their respective seeds for this tournament (drumroll, please)... If you're hoping for a stunner from the underdog, I hate to break it to you - this isn't a fairy tale. Gracheva has the upper hand here. I foresee Preston putting up a good fight, but ultimately, Gracheva would come out on top.
Albert’s Prediction: Gracheva in 3 sets.