• Exempted from the first round Alon Ostapenko (WTA 25th) will play against Aleksandar Sasnović (WTA 44th) in the second round.
• The balance of mutual matches is 4-1. Until now, their last meeting took place in October, when they lost without options – 2:6, 2:6.
• Sasnovich is 5-10 after their last head-to-head, including 4-6 on the new year. Ostapenko is 9-6 this year.
• In the first round of the Indian Wells tournament, Sasnoviča defeated Estonia’s number one Kaiju Kanepi – 6:3, 7:6(5).
• Making it to the second round is worth $30,885 in prize money and 35 ranking points. Ostapenko only had to defend 10 points in March.
• The worst balance in matches against the so-called neutral tennis players, the “top 30” players starting under their country’s flag: Ostapenko 1-6, Pliskova 2-5, Badosa 3-7. Krejcikova was 2-6, but on February 23 she defeated Arina Sabalenka to improve her record.
• At the Grand Slam level, Ostapenko has the French Open title (2017) and the Wimbledon semifinals (2018), while Sasnović’s highest achievements are the US Open semifinals (2019) and the French Open quarterfinals (2020).
• During her career, the currently 25-year-old Ostapenko has collected five WTA titles, while Sasnović, who is three years her senior, has none.
• Last year, Sasnovića defeated two then “top 20” tennis players and played in two WTA finals. In September, she reached a record 29th position in the world ranking.
• Ostapenko predicts 22 degrees during the match in Indian Wells.
• The winner of today’s duel will enter the third round, where she will likely face the Czech Petra Kvitova (WTA 15th).
• 28 of the “top 30” tennis players are competing in Indian Wells, including all 18 of the nominally strongest.
• This is the second “WTA 1000” of the year and the first 1000 point tournament.
Resources used:
wtatennis.com
Penko was at the draw ceremony ☺️ pic.twitter.com/UVStVwucCu
— Ryan (@Some1NamedRyan) March 7, 2023
