Belgium

Elise Mertens

Slovenia

Kaja Juvan

Bookmakers underestimate the Slovenian, who will be able to get off to a good start and delight her fans

Mertens suffered an injury in her first clay tournament of the season in Istanbul. The Belgian did not play on tour for more than a month. She missed major competitions in Madrid and Rome. But these problems did not stop Elise from taking two wins in Strasbourg and reaching the quarter-finals. However, the 33rd-ranked player beat her opponents with great difficulty. In the first round she got past Carol Monnet (7-5, 6-4), then took on Anna-Lena Fridzam (7-5, 7-5). Mertens has no stability. For example, Fridzam broke three times in two sets. Juwan is having a good season. Since the beginning of the year the Slovenian representative has had 21 wins and 9 defeats. Kaia moved to Strasbourg from Rome. In the Italian capital Juwan overcame the qualification, and in the first round of the main draw lost in a tiebreak to Yulia Putintseva (5-7, 6-4, 5-7). In Strasbourg the Slovenian was lucky with the tournament schedule. She had to face not very strong opponents. Kaja defeated Lina Glusko and Nefisa Berberovic who were far behind her in class. Juwan won both matches by the same score of 2-0. The opponents managed only nine games between them in those matches. Mertens will not beat the Slovenian athlete. Elise's conditioning is far from optimal. Kaya, on the other hand, is in great shape. Bookmakers consider the Belgian to be the favourite, but that's not quite true. Everything will show at the beginning of the match. Juwan will seize the initiative straight away and force her opponent to make mistakes. Most likely, in the first game Elisa will not withstand the pressure and quickly give up her serve. There is no doubt about the Slovenian's success. Kaja will outclass her opponent at the start of the match and please her fans. We have to bet on Juwan to win the first set.