Defending champion and second seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus will start her Shenzhen Open title defense against Russian qualifier Margarita Gasparyan on Monday, January 6. The match will begin at 11 am local time (4 am BST). You can find the Aryna Sabalenka v Margarita Gasparyan live streaming options along with its preview, head to head and tips here.
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Aryna Sabalenka v Margarita Gasparyan Head to Head
This is a first-ever meeting between the pair.
Sabalenka Won Three Titles in 2019 – All in China
For the second successive year Aryna Sabalenka attained a year-end World No.11 in the WTA rankings. She is currently Belarus’ top-ranked player.
In 2019 she performed with distinction, headlining in four tour-level finals and capturing three trophies. Remarkably all her title wins last year came on Chinese soil. Sabalenka’s titles also came at fluctuating periods during the year. Her very first of the season came in the opening week in Shenzhen, where she has now returned to defend her crown.
Her second came in Wuhan where she beat Kiki Bertens and World No.1 Ashleigh Barty en route to the title. Her terrific run of form in China showed no signs of abating as she stomped past the field to win the WTA Elite crown at the end of October.
It is not just in singles where Sabalenka has excelled. She has teamed up with Elise Mertens (currently the No.1 pair in doubles) this week. They won the US Open doubles title last year, and they will be in action in Shenzhen on Monday.
Gasparyan Not Shy for an Upset Win
Margarita Gasparyan navigated her way into the main draw in Shenzhen with a couple of qualifying wins under her belt. The 25-year-old Russian is seeking to a fourth career top-20 win and her first since stunning World No.6 Elina Svitolina in three sets at the Nature Valley Classic in Birmingham last year.
On a good day Gasparyan can dazzle with excellent shot-making and her rare one-handed backhand is a thing of beauty. But the good days have been far and few for the Russian World No.104. Shortly after attaining a career-high ranking of No.41 she battled repeated knee operations which derailed her progress on the tour.
In 2018, she won her first title in four years at the Tashkent Open in Uzbekistan. But since that success two years ago, she has failed to string wins together. Aside from Linz at the tail end of last year, she last won back-to-back matches in April at the Istanbul Cup.
Aryna Sabalenka v Margarita Gasparyan Predictions & Tips
Sabalenka will be a major contender for the big titles this year and it will be fascinating to see her progress at the Australian Open. For most of 2019, the Belorussian would win matches of this caliber with minimal fuss and I expect her to continue that trend.
Tip: Sabelenka to win in straight sets: 8/11 (Click here to get these odds with bet365)
You can watch & bet on Sabalenka v Gasparyan on Monday, January 6 here. . Get the latest tennis predictions and tips here.
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