- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
After ending her home soil hoodoo on Monday with a win over Taiwan’s Kai-Chen Chang, Sam Stosur will continue her quest for back-to-back home wins when she takes on China’s Jie Zheng. Join us for live scores and commentary on the match this afternoon.
As most of you will well and truly know, Stosur has certainly had a tough time of late, unable to win her past six matches on home turf – before Monday.
Her performance against Chang in the first round was encouraging but at number 86 in the world, you would’ve expected Stosur to triumph.
Zheng however is a different story. Although currently ranked at number 40, Zheng has been as high as 15 in the world back in 2009 and has had some great wins against the Australian.
Stosur currently leads their head-to-head 3-2 but Zheng takes the honours so far this year after defeating the 2011 US Open champion in Sydney last week.
Zheng is known for her quick speed and incredible consistency and will certainly trouble Stosur. Although not an extremely strong player, Zheng has a knack for knowing exactly where to place her shots and her intellect and willingness to change up her game plans certainly makes up for that limited strength.
She also has tremendous footwork and excellent court coverage, so much so that some journalists have labelled her ‘The Great Wall of China’.
Zheng’s serve is arguably her biggest weakness and this is something that Stosur definitely has to take advantage of if she is to win.
Sam has amazing penetrable power and can easily out do Zheng in the winner department. Additionally her killer serve, deemed one of the best in the women’s game, needs to be on song as it will undoubtedly be her weapon in the match.
On paper Sam should win this, but her inability to handle pressure and close out matches could be her biggest downfall. She is likely to have the defeat in Sydney last week on her mind and of course her poor record at home certainly won’t help her cause.
However she needs to stay composed and relaxed, and go for her shots. If she can do that, she should come out on top in a tight three-set battle.
Whether it’s aces or races, try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp for great odds and a great punting experience. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.