Katie Boulter takes on Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova at the Lins Open and Paula Badosa faces Diana Shnaider at the Hua Hin Open. Damien Kayat previews.
2024 WTA Tour
WTA Hybrid – Linz Open and Hua Hin Championships
Selected Round of 16 Matches- 31st January 29, 2024
Linz Open (Indoor Hardcourt)
Katie Boulter 29/20 | Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 52/100
Is Katie Boulter finally going to fulfil her potential this season? Oft-criticised for focusing a little too much on off-court activities, Boulter started to produce some consistent tennis last season, winning her maiden tour title in Nottingham.
She also enjoyed back-to-back third-round runs at Wimbledon and the US Open. She went out of the second round of this year’s Aussie Open, unfortunately running into eventual finalist Qinwen Zheng.
But the Brit made a perfect start to her Linz Open campaign, defeating Italian sixth seed Jasmine Paolini in straight sets. She showed plenty of fight in the match, saving all five break points she faced to record the fifth victory of her career against a top-25 opponent.
Next up for Boulter is experienced Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The 32-year-old has enjoyed a very successful career on tour, reaching eight Grand Slam quarter-finals or better in the process. The 2021 French Open runner-up suffered a bad knee injury in 2022 that really impinged on her success last season.
Still, she became only the third person ranked outside the top 250 to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final at the French Open. That shows you that she has definite class that cannot be underestimated. She ended the season with some decent hardcourt form in Asia, reaching the semi-finals in Japan before a quarterfinal showing in Hong Kong.
She pushed Jesscia Pegula to three sets in the Adelaide quarterfinal earlier this season and she was soundly beaten by Badosa in the Aussie Open. She has started well in Linz, blasting Trevisan off the court 6-4, 6-0. A champion here in 2015, this could be the event she needs to give that current world ranking of 46 a boost.
Verdict: Pavlyuchenkova to win in straight sets at 11/10
This will be the first career meeting between these two. Boulter is going to need to serve well and probably keep the rallies pretty short. Pavlyuchenkova is a crafty operator who will relish the more extended rallies. I think the Russian is a class above her opponent on her best day and she has some wonderful form in this event.
Hua Hin Championships (Outdoor Hardcourt)
Paula Badosa 46/100 | Diana Shnaider 33/20
This promises to be a very interesting early clash in Thailand. Former World No.3 Paula Badosa endured a torrid spell with injury last season, ending her season at Wimbledon after irritating a pre-existing vertebra issue.
I think many in the media made too much out of her new relationship with Stefanos Tsitsipas, arguing that her performance was affected by the union. She enjoyed a pretty inauspicious comeback performance in Adelaide, going down to American Bernarda Pera in three sets.
But she seemed to be somewhere near her best again at the Aussie Open, beating Townsend and the dangerous Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets. She went down to hard-hitting American Amanada Anisimova in the third round. Still, she was hitting the ball solidly off both wings and her serve was starting to look impressive. Will the clean-hitting baseliner be able to reach her best level once again?
19-year-old Russian Diana Shnaider is fast becoming a really dangerous lurker in any draw. She had an accomplished junior career and made some real headway during the course of last season.
Shnaider reached her first WTA final at the Ningbo Open and followed that up with a semi-final showing at the Jiangxi Open. Both performances showcased her power and durability on harder surfaces. She has a booming lefty forehand that will keep any player on their toes.
She didn’t enjoy a great start to this season, failing to win a single match in Brisbane, Hobart and Melbourne. But the Asian hardcourts have once again brought out the best in her.
She sent top seed Magda Linette packing in a three-set win. She really kept the Pole honest with that versatile forehand and she will need to keep that level up if she wishes to conquer Badosa.
Verdict: Shnaider to win in three 5/1
This will be the second career meeting between these two. Badosa easily saw off the Russian when they met at last year’s Charleston Open. But this will be an entirely different proposition.
Badosa is still trying to find her best tennis and Shnaider really seems to be in her comfort zone on these courts. I think that Badosa could struggle with the Russian’s awkward lefty groundstrokes.
