Italian Open 2023: Taylor Townsend vs Wang Xiyu preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds, and pick
Fixture: (Q) Taylor Townsend vs Wang Xiyu.
Date: May 13, 2023.
Tournament: Italian Open 2023.
Round: Third Round (Round of 32).
Venue: Foro Italico, Rome, Italy.
Category: WTA 1000.
Surface: Outdoor clay.
Prize money: €3,572,618.
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video.
Taylor Townsend vs Wang Xiyu preview
Taylor Townsend and Wang Xiyu have set up a third-round showdown at the 2023 Italian Open on Saturday.
Townsend scored wins over Mirjam Bjorklund and Dalma Galfi to secure her place in the main draw. She then defeated Ysaline Bonaventure in three sets to make it to the second round, where World No. 3 Jessica Pegula awaited her.
Townsend lost the first couple of games of the opening set, but then bagged the next six to take the set. Pegula raised her level in the second set, coming out on top in it to level the proceedings.
A single break of serve at the start of the third set sealed the deal in Townsend's favor. She jumped to a 3-0 lead and kept her nose in front until the end of the match to win 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
Meanwhile, Wang defeated Lucrezia Stefanini in two tight sets to reach the second round, where she was up against 31st seed Irina-Camelia Begu. The pair traded service breaks at the start of the first set, after which they remained quite solid on serve.
With Begu serving to stay in the set at 5-4, Wang snagged a break of serve to capture the set. The Romanian broke her opponent's serve in the seventh game to go 4-3 up.
Begu then served for the set after a couple of games and even had a couple of set points, but was unable to get the job done. Wang won that game and the next two as well, to win the match 6-4, 7-5.
Taylor Townsend vs Wang Xiyu head-to-head
This will be their first meeting on the WTA tour. However, they've evenly split their previous two meetings on the ITF circuit to tie the head-to-head at 1-1. Townsend won their most recent encounter in straight sets at year's ITF event in Charleston.
Taylor Townsend vs Wang Xiyu odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Taylor Townsend vs Wang Xiyu prediction
Townsend registered one of the best wins of her career by ousting Pegula in the previous round. Wang, too, played well to defeat Begu, who had just reached the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open.
Townsend's resurgence can be attirbuted to an increased level of shot tolerance in rallies. Her heavy topspin forehand is quite difficult to contend with and coupled with the American being left-handed, it adds a whole new dimension to it.
Wang will need to remain alert and be ready to move forward quite frequently. Townsend loves to charge at the net quite often and she's quite good at it as well. The 27-year-old seems to have found her groove in Rome with her string of victories, right from the qualifying rounds.
Wang herself has been playing at a decent level over the past few weeks. She has the potential to make this a competitive battle, but Townsend should be able to rise to the occasion to subdue the young Chinese player.
Pick: Taylor Townsend to win in three sets.