Damien Kayat previews Beatriz Haddad Maia vs Ekaterina Alexandrova and Bianca Andreescu vs Lesia Tsurenko in selected 3rd Round matches of the French Open, on the 3rd of June 2023.
2023 WTA Tour
Grand Slam Tennis
French Open
Stade Roland Garros, Paris, France (Outdoor Clay)
Selected Round 3 Matches – 3rd June
Beatriz Haddad Maia 77/100 | Ekaterina Alexandrova 21/20
Number one ranked Brazilian player Beatriz Haddad Maia has enjoyed a meteoric rise over the last 12 months or so. Her promising early career was threatened by a litany of injuries and a doping suspension.
But she roared back to relevance last year, winning back-to-back grass-court titles before a brilliant run to the Canadian Open final. She has been consistent in 2023, rising into the top 15 in the world rankings for the first time in her career.
The highlight of her season was a semi-final run in Abu Dhabi. She has also produced another four quarterfinal runs throughout the year. And I have been pleasantly surprised with her progress on clay (she reached the quarterfinals in Stuttgart and Rome). This isn’t really a surface that suits her aggressive style.
The tall Brazilian leans on a big-serve and looks to dictate points from the baseline. Her doubles experience has also helped her hone her net play. But she did survive a real scare last time out, needing a little under three hours to take down Diana Shnaider.
28-year-old Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova has had a pretty topsy-turvy time in Paris. She came through a rollercoaster opener against Tomova before an absolutely dominant display Anna-Lena Friedsam. That victory over Friedsam took her fairly humdrum year to 13-10.
To put that into context; she ended 2022 with an excellent record of 35-18. The Russian won her 2nd and 3rd titles last year (in Rosmalen and Korea). But she actually probably achieved her most impressive results on the clay (which was pretty unusual given her proclivity for fasters surfaces).
She reached the semi-finals of the Charleston Open before a sensational semi-final run in Madrid. Perhaps that Madrid run isn’t so surprising given the relative quickness of the courts. She has hinted at that clay-court prowess this year.
She reached the quarterfinals in Charleston before pushing clay-court goddess Iga Swiatek to three-sets in an encouraging Madrid defeat. Alexandrova is a gutsy competitor who has clearly developed on clay over the past two years.
Verdict: Alexandrova to win in three
Maia leads the head-to-head 2-0. But that shouldn’t count for much: their last meeting came back in 2017. This should be an interesting tactical affair. Haddad Maia will look to dominate on serve and will likely approach the net from time to time.
Alexandrova will stick to the baseline with militant zeal and look to wear down the Brazilian with her consistent groundstrokes. I think Alexandrova’s consistent ball-striking will be key to success here. She has a solid clay-court pedigree of late and seems to be finding a better balance between all-out aggression and counterpunching.
Bianca Andreescu 8/11 | Lesia Tsurenko 21/20
It feels like forever ago that Bianca Andreescu burst onto the scene. She was the breakthrough star of 2019, winning the Indian Wells and Rogers Cup titles before a mesmerizing victory at the US Open.
It seemed like an ominous statement of intent from a new rising star. But the following years were unkind to Andreescu, who plummeted to a career-low ranking of 121 last year. She has dealt with a positive Covid diagnosis, plentiful injury issues and a mental health break.
And just when she seemed to have turned her health (and form) around in Miami: fate struck again. She was forced to withdraw from her round of 16 clash due to a serious looking ankle injury. But she seems to have shaken off that injury and has looked rejuvenated on the Paris clay.
She came from a set down against the formidable Victoria Azarenka in a nightmare first-round tie. And she just saw off Emma Navarro with minimum fuss. Crazily, this is only the 2nd time in her career that she has progressed beyond the 2nd round of a Slam (the other being her title run in New York).
She looks passionate again, actively engaging with the crowd and finally enjoying herself on court.
Is it fair to call a four-time WTA Tour winner a journeywoman? I don’t know. A career-high ranking of 23 probably means she fit into that category.
In any event, the Ukrainian has proven to be a pugnacious competitor who always gives her all. She won the last of her four titles in 2018 (all of her titles coming on hardcourts). She did bounce back with a run to this year’s Hua Hin Championships. But she has largely underwhelmed in recent years.
But pulled off arguably the surprise of the tournament thus far, taking out 2021 champion Barbora Krejcikova in the first-round. She just needed 1 hour and 27 minutes to beat the Czech star in straight-sets (on what happened to be her 34th birthday).
Lauren Davies withdrew midway through their 2nd round clash and the Kazakh should feel absolutely fresh for this match. She has now reached the 3rd round here for the 4th time in her career. Can she reach the 4th round for the first time since 2018?
Verdict: Andreescu to win in three
Tsurenko won their only previous meeting earlier this year. She was leading the Canadian in the Hua Hin Championship before Andreescu chose to retire. I think that Tsurenko’s brand of obstinate baseline pugilism makes her a tough 3rd round opponent.
She is playing out of her skin and seems to have found a new level this week. But I just think that Andreescu’s insane variety will ultimately see her persevere.
