Charleston Open 2023: Ons Jabeur vs Lesia Tsurenko preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match details
Fixture: (2) Ons Jabeur vs Lesia Tsurenko
Date: April 4, 2023
Tournament: Charleston Open 2023
Round: Second round (Round of 32)
Venue: Charleston, USA
Category: WTA 500
Surface: Outdoor clay (green)
Prize money: $780,637
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video
Ons Jabeur vs Lesia Tsurenko preview
Second seed Ons Jabeur will square off against World No. 77 Lesia Tsurenko in the second round of the 2023 Charleston Open on Tuesday.
Jabeur started the year by reaching the semifinals of the Adelaide International 1, where she lost to Linda Noskova in three sets. Her Australian Open campaign was rather brief as she was ousted by Marketa Vondrousova in the second round.
Following the conclusion of her campaign Down Under, Jabeur took some time off to deal with an injury. She returned to action at the BNP Paribas Open, where she was defeated yet again by Vondrousova, this time in the third round.
The Tunisian lost in the second round of the Miami Open after that.
As the second seed at the Charleston Open, she received a bye into the second round. Jabeur was the runner-up last year, losing to Belinda Bencic in the final.
Tsurenko, meanwhile, was up against qualifier Paula Ormaechea in the first round at Charleston. The Ukrainian jumped to a 3-0 lead in the opening set. Following a hold of serve by her opponent, she bagged the next three games in a row to clinch the set.
The second set was similarly one-sided. Ormaechea kicked things off with a service hold, after which Tsurenko reeled off the next six games to win the match 6-1, 6-1.
Ons Jabeur vs Lesia Tsurenko head-to-head
This will be the first main-draw meeting between them. However, they did face off once before during the qualifying stages at the 2018 Dubai Tennis Championships. Tsurenko won that match in straight sets.
Ons Jabeur vs Lesia Tsurenko odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Ons Jabeur vs Lesia Tsurenko prediction
After an incredibly successful 2022 season, Jabeur has so far failed to replicate her performances from last year. Her most recent losses could be attributed to her injury, something which she doesn't appear to have fully recovered from.
Tsurenko scored a dominant win over Ormaechea to kick off her campaign in Charleston. She didn't lose her serve even once and erased all six break points that she faced. Against a slightly out-of-form Jabeur, she does have a shot at victory, but the Tunisian is a great player on clay.
Jabeur won the Madrid Open and reached another couple of finals on clay, including Charleston last year. Her drop shots work wonders on clay, but she tends to overdo them at times as well.
Tsurenko will have her hands full trying to stay on top of Jabeur's varied gameplay. Despite her string of underwhelming results, it's only a matter of time before the Tunisian is back to her winning ways. She will be tested in this round, but the World No. 5 is likely to survive and advance further.
Pick: Ons Jabeur to win in three sets.