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Daria Gavrilova will take on qualifier Petra Martic in the first round at Wimbledon as the Australian attempts to make a deep run. Can Dasha get off to a strong start or will the Croat cause a massive upset? Join The Roar from around 10:30pm (AEST) for live scores.
Daria Gavrilova has risen to become Australia’s No.1 female tennis player following a consistent couple of years and after a disappointing campaign at Roland Garros which saw her make a first round exit to Elise Mertens, she will be looking to perform well at Wimbledon.
Gavrilova looked strong on grass at Birmingham where she kicked off her season, going deep into the tournament with wins over Hsieh Su-Wei in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 and Katerina Siniakova 7-5, 2-6, 6-4.
The Australian showed great resilience to hang in against Lucie Safarova, however she failed to capitalise on her lead in a 6-7, 6-3, 7-6 loss.
Gavrilova’s Eastbourne campaign was far less successful, bombing it to Lara Arruabarrena in the first round 2-6, 6-2, 6-3. She has a favourable section of the draw and will be hoping to go deep into the second week however, she must first get past Petra Martic.
Martic has taken great pride and passion in her resurgence. The 26-year-old Croat is currently ranked 369th in the world, however since returning to the grand slam circuit, she has won plenty of matches.
At Roland Garros where she made her way through to the fourth round as a qualifier, eventually losing to Elina Svitolina, Martic has thrived.
She may have had a shocking start to the grass season at Ilkley failing to qualify, before she showed a strong will to succeed in Wimbledon qualifying fighting back against Aleksandra Krunic from a set down to take her place in the main draw for the first time since 2014.
Martic will be needing a good start to be in with a chance at moving through to the second round. If she can hang in, she could really exploit Gavrilova’s weakness in closing out matches by staging a fightback.
Gavrilova and Martic have never played each other on the WTA Tour and the winner will take on either of Denisa Allertova or Risa Ozaki in the second round.
Prediction
Daria Gavrilova should breeze through the first round in a convincing display against Martic.
Gavrilova in straight sets.
Join The Roar from around 10:30pm (AEST) for live scores following the completion of Mischa Zverev versus Bernard Tomic and be sure to drop a comment in the box below if you’re watching the match.
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