Linz Open 2020: Elise Mertens vs Vera Zvonareva preview, head-to-head & prediction
Match details
Fixture: (2) Elise Mertens vs (WC) Vera Zvonareva
Date: 12 November 2020
Tournament: Upper Austria Ladies Linz Open 2020
Round: Second round (Round of 16)
Venue: Linz, Austria
Category: WTA International
Surface: Indoor hardcourt
Prize money: $202,250
Match timing: Approx 7 pm local time, 11:30 pm IST
Live telecast: USA - ESPN / Tennis Channel
Elise Mertens vs Vera Zvonareva preview
Second seed Elise Mertens takes on former World No. 2 Vera Zvonareva in the second round of the Linz Open 2020 on Thursday.
Mertens has been one of the most impressive players since the tour resumed in August. She has lost before the quarterfinals just twice - at Palermo and Roland Garros - despite having played as many as seven tournaments.
The Prague runner-up took her spectacular claycourt form to the indoor hardcourts of Ostrava and reached the last eight there as well. So it is hardly a surprise that the consistent World No. 21 is considered one of the front-runners to win the title in Linz this week.
Drawn to face a qualifier in the first round, Mertens was expected to have a very easy path to the second round. Reality, however, turned out to be very different.
Anhelina Kalinina turned out to be more than a match for the Belgian who, at times, struggled to find answers to the Ukrainian's shot-making. In the end, it was primarily her experience that helped Mertens seal a 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 win in 2 hours 5 minutes.
Mertens next faces a player with loads of experience but not much recent match practice at the highest level. The 36-year-old Vera Zvonareva, who reached the Wimbledon and US Open finals in 2010, is currently in the middle of a long comeback trail.
After taking leave from the tour in 2015, the Russian came back in 2017 as a mother. She then put up a few impressive performances in ITF and lower-level WTA tournaments, which eventually helped her break back into the top 100.
The World No. 173 won 17 of her 26 singles matches in 2020 before entering the Linz Open. Her best performance on the WTA tour was at the Western & Southern Open, where she won four matches from qualifying to make the Round of 16.
Zvonareva also made it to the final of an ITF 25,000 event in Istanbul last month, before losing to Kaia Kanepi.
That said, the Russian's biggest achievement on her return to competitive tennis so far has been winning the 2020 US Open women's doubles title with Laura Siegemund.
Elise Mertens vs Vera Zvonareva head-to-head
Elise Mertens and Vera Zvonareva have never crossed paths on the tour, so their singles head-to-head record currently stands at 0-0.
Interestingly, the two have twice squared off in doubles this year and have split those two meetings. While Zvonareva and Siegemund beat Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka at the US Open, the latter pair beat Zvonareva and Jelena Ostapenko at Ostrava.
Elise Mertens vs Vera Zvonareva prediction
Elise Mertens was not at her best in the first round, but she got better as the match progressed. The Belgian won 59% of her first-serve points in the first set, and that percentage increased to 75% and 84% in the second and third sets respectively.
Mertens would need to be strong on her serve right from the start on Thursday, given that she is pitted against a player who is known for her return. But Vera Zvonareva has also been serving well of late, in addition to striking her trademark venomous returns. She blew away the 18-year-old Marta Kostyuk 6-4, 6-2 in the first round, winning 82% of her first-serve points without getting broken a single time.
The Russian's backhand is a potent weapon, capable of producing crosscourt and down-the-line winners at will. But her forehand can be her Achilles' heel, as it often breaks down under pressure.
Mertens, who can take the ball on the rise with ease, will look to target exactly that. The Belgian will try to break down Zvonareva's game by taking time away from her forehand, and at the same time not give too many short balls to her backhand either.
Moreover, Mertens' dropshot-lob combination was very effective in getting her out of jail against Kalinina. She will likely use more of that to exploit the movement of the 36-year-old Zvonareva.
Prediction: Elise Mertens to win in straight sets.