Latvian tennis player Alona Ostapenko will start the Sydney “WTA 500” series tournament with Spanish tennis player Paul Bados. Ostapenko, who is ranked 28th in the WTA, will start the tournament in the first round, where her opponent will be the world’s eighth racket Bados.
In the two games so far, each of the tennis players has won from time to time. In 2020, the Spaniard celebrated the victory of the French Open 1/16 final with 6: 4, 6: 3, but in the 1/16 final of the 2021 St. Petersburg tournament, Ostapenko revenge with 6: 2, 6: 2. Ostapenko fought his last fight in October in the Moscow “WTA 500” series tournament, not winning the first round, when the Latvian tennis player could not continue the match in the third set after 6-2, 0-6 and 0-2. Bados last played in the Mexican city of Guadalajara in November, reaching the semifinals of the Women’s Tennis Association’s (WTA) season finale.
Ostapenko has played three times in the tournament, always losing in the first match. For Bados, it will be its debut in this competition. Ostapenko has so far won four and Badosa in two WTA singles tournaments. In the second round, the winner of this duel will meet Ajla Tomljanovich from Australia, who is ranked 45th in the world, or one of the winners of the qualifying tournament.
The tournament in Melbourne is taking place on a hard surface. Meanwhile, the second racket of Latvian tennis Anastasia Sevastova, who occupies the 70th position in the WTA rank, will not participate in the tournaments next week.
