The inaugural edition of the Toyota #ThailandOpen managed to attract a bulk of quality players, including former top-10 players Garbine Muguruza and Caroline Garcia, who are the top two seeds in the tournament. Originally a WTA 125k event back in 2017, this tournament replaced Taipei City on the WTA calendar and looks to have a successful first edition.
First Quarter: Packed draw with Muguruza handed tricky opponents
Top seed and world number 18 #GarbineMuguruza, entering this International tournament hoping to gain some form and momentum entering the Middle East swing, will rue her poor luck as she was handed a tricky draw. She opens her Hua Hin campaign against former Wimbledon finalist #SabineLisicki, who reached a career-high ranking of 12 in the past. Lisicki, who has been struggling with various injuries for the past few years, looks to pull off the huge upset although it seems like a mountain to climb.
The winner of that match will face the winner between #MonaBarthel and French rising star #FionaFerro, who provided Muguruza with a tough challenge at the French Open last year. Former US Open semifinalist #PengShuai, returning from a six-month ban, will face qualifier #ChloePacquet in the opening round while eighth seed #DayanaYastremska, in great form currently, faces qualifier #ArantxaRus.
Prediction: Yastremska d. Muguruza
Second Quarter: Hsieh leads the field
#HsiehSuwei opens her campaign against fellow slicer #MonicaNiculescu — a match-up which every true tennis fan would enjoy watching. They were doubles partners for a moment previously and despite their long presence on the WTA tour, they have not competed against each other in a singles match. This will be a highly-anticipated encounter.
#MagdaLinette starts the tournament against qualifier #PriscillaHon, who got through the qualifying rounds having only lost 10 games in the process. Russian youngster #AnnaBlinkova goes up against #WangYafan in a hard-hitting contest, while fifth seed #ZhangShuai, who is off from her title run in the doubles competition at the Australian Open, faces a tricky opening hurdle — local favourite #LuksikaKumkhum, who will be looking to build on her home support to cause the upset.
Prediction: Zhang d. Hsieh
Third Quarter: Who can grab the opportunity?
Sixth seed #AjlaTomljanovic, who has shown some promising efforts during the Australian Open Series, was drawn to face #StefanieVoegele in the opening round. Her route to the semifinals seems to be relatively clear — with #KaterynaKozlova potentially awaiting next.
#IrinaCameliaBegu and #EvgeniyaRodina, who are ranked 70th and 69th respectively, clash in the first round, and tennis mum #MandyMinella goes up against fourth seed #ZhengSaisai in a winnable match which has the upset alert ringing all over it.
Prediction: Tomljanovic d. Begu
Fourth Quarter: Can Garcia find her form?
Seventh seed #PaulineParmentier, who won two WTA titles in 2018, has a tough opener — qualifier #DuanYingying who is known to be extremely inconsistent but definitely possesses the ability to cause upsets. The hard-hitting Chinese survived a thriller against compatriot Han Xinyun in the final qualifying round to book a spot in the main draw. #ViktorijaGolubic and #SaraSorribesTormo will fight for a place in the second round as well.
The hard-hitting #TimeaBabos, who won the title in Taipei City last year, technically has 280 points to defend here as this tournament had replaced the tournament held in Taiwan. She faces one of the most improved players on the tour, #TamaraZidansek, who made a silent rise up in the rankings in 2018. Receiving a wildcard into the main draw, #CarolineGarcia is the second seed and opens against qualifier #JenniferBrady, who was ranked inside the top-100 previously.
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