Ah, what a time to be a tennis spectator, friends. Let's brush the crumbs off our jerseys and dive right into this evening bout. We're looking at Kamilla Rakhimova versus Qinwen Zheng, a matchup that's as exciting as a halftime hot dog– mostly predictable, but could throw an upset if we're not careful with the mustard.
Now, Rakhimova is coming off a decent run of form recently. She pummeled Birrell in 2 sets, gave Yihan Qu diddly squat in the form of love sets, and even served Azarenka an early exit in a cut-short match. However, it's hardly been a faultless performance with a loss to Birrell and Osorio sprinkled in. Bit like a sporadic rain on your parade.
Let's not forget our lass is unseeded in this tournament which is a bit like bringing a toothpick to a sword fight.
On the other side of the court, we have the 5th seed, Zheng. Boy, she's been slapping balls around like a cat in a yarn shop. Served up defeat to Vekić, Niemeier, Andreeva, and Anisimova respectively, only dropping a set in each of two occasions. Granted, she faced an unfortunate defeat at the hand of Sabalenka, but then again, no one likes to play against Sabalenka.
If we play a game of odds and evens here, Zheng likely takes the cake. But hey, remember tennis, like a drunk kangaroo, can sometimes go in unexpected directions.
Albert’s Prediction: Zheng in straight sets.