Elise Mertens (Bel) vs. Jelena Ostapenko (Lat) – Result prediction (17.10.2019)

Preview and players comparison.

It is the pair’s first meeting in a professional singles setting. Previously, Ostapenko prevailed in a juniors match back in 2012 at a Belgian clay-court tournament, while Mertens defeated the Latvian in doubles in Miami and Roland Garros this season. The top seed, unsurprisingly, walks into the match as the favorite.

Jelena Ostapenko survives two tight sets against Caty McNally to kick off her debut in Luxembourg, 7-5, 7-6. She was pegged back to level terms in the first set after leading by a double break and had to save a set point in the second. The wildcard made 36 winners to 31 unforced errors, including ten double faults. Until last week, Ostapenko’s best result since the 2018 Wimbledon was a sole quarterfinal appearance at Birmingham in June. The former world no. 5, who had fallen to 83 in the rankings, arrested her decline with a runner-up finish in Linz, beating Rybakina and Alexandrova en route — lost to 15-year-old Cori Gauff.

Elise Mertens had to wait until the last minute to find out against whom she actually had to play the first round. She was slated to take on Kozlova, Bonaventure, and Voegele before settling against Bibiane Schoofs. She cleared the bizarre start to the week with a 6-0, 6-3 win over the Dutchwoman in 66 minutes. Mertens is headlining a WTA tournament for the third time ever, following 2018 Rabat (W) and 2019 Rabat (QF), both being clay-court events. The Belgian made her third and recent-most appearance at Luxembourg in 2017, her breakout season. She defeated three unseeded players to reach the semifinals.

Match Info.

Competition: WTA – SINGLES: Luxembourg (Luxembourg), hard (indoor) – 1/8-finals.
Start: 17.10.2019, 13:10 UTC.