Tennis acca Tips: Katie Boulter backed to impress against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Tennis action continues through the week with the Open Sud De France on the ATP Tour and events in Hua Hin and Linz on the WTA Tour.

The WTA 500 Upper Austria Ladies Linz is the event offering the biggest rankings rewards this week.

Meanwhile the fourth edition of the Hua Hin Championships marks an important step for the game in Thailand.

 

ATP Montpellier: Alexander Shevchenko vs Dalibor Svrcina | Pick: Shevchenko

ATP Montpellier: Borna Coric vs Pedro Martinez Portero | Pick: Coric

WTA Hua Hin: Linda Fruhvirtova vs Lin Zhu | Pick: Fruhvirtova

WTA Linz: Dayana Yastremska vs Erika Andreeva | Pick: Yastremska

WTA Linz: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Katie Boulter | Pick: Boulter

WTA Linz: Anastasia Potapova vs Sara Errani | Pick: Potapova

 

ATP Montpellier: Alexander Shevchenko vs Dalibor Svrcina

Alexander Shevchenko recently shifted his allegience to Kazakhstan in a move that may help him reach the Olympics.

He faces a player he will be expected to beat easily in Czech Dalibor Svrcina in Montpellier.

In his most recent match, in the Australian Open's Round of 128 Shevchenko was defeated 3-6, 3-6, 1-6 by Jaume Munar.

Monday's qualifying round match saw Svrcina defeat Giulio Zeppieri 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.

 

ATP Montpellier: Borna Coric vs Pedro Martinez Portero

Fourth seed Borna Coric will face unseeded Pedro Martinez Portero for a spot in the Sud de Open France quarterfinals.  

Coric moved up in the live rankings from his previous position of 37th in the globe after this indoor hard court competition gave the Croatian a bye into the second round.

In the United Cup team competition, he started the new year with Croatia with a win over Tallon Griekspoor but lost to Casper Ruud.

His Australian Open campaign did not go as planned; he lost to Frances Tiafoe, the 17th seed, in the opening round but with some spare time, he attended the Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve Challenger Tour event but was defeated by Leandro Riedi in the final.

 

WTA Hua Hin: Linda Fruhvirtova vs Lin Zhu

Linda Fruhvirtova faces defending champion Lin Zhu in Hua Hin to start her campaign.

The young Czech will be up against it against a player on a winning streak at this venue.

Zhu has enjoyed the better start to the year with four main draw wins to her name to date.

Fruhvirtova has struggled by comparison and her only two wins have come in qualifying.

 

WTA Linz: Dayana Yastremska vs Erika Andreeva

Erika Andreeva, a qualifier, aims to get to the second round of the Upper Austria Linz Open on hard courts. The Russian faces Dayana Yastremska, a wildcard, and the winner will face Donna Vekic, the third seed, in the round of 16.

The older sister of Mirra, Andreeva, is now ranked 111th and has to pass the qualifying rounds in order to enter the main draw.

She defeated Arabella Koller 6-0 6-0 in the opening round and in her last qualifying encounter, Tamara Korpatsch proved to be harder as she lost the opening set in a tie-break before coming through.

Yastremska has enjoyed a big jump thanks to her run to the Australian Open semi-finals.

 

WTA Linz: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Katie Boulter

World No 42 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova meets world No 53 Katie Boulter in the Round of 16 of the Upper Austria Ladies Linz on Wednesday.

Pavlyuchenkova has a middling record on hard courts having won 12 and lost ten on the surface in the last 12 months.

Boulter is marginally better wiht 15 match wins to her name alongside 10 losses.

The Brit is the underdog but she should have the quality to upstage her Russian opponent.

 

WTA Linz: Anastasia Potapova vs Sara Errani

In the Upper Austria Linz Open first round, fifth seed Anastasia Potapova faces Italian qualifier Sam Errani.

The winner's next match will be in the rRound of 16 where she will play either Italian qualifier Lucrezia Stefanni or unseeded Elisabetta Cocciaretto.

Errani, who is currently ranked 99th, had to compete in two qualifiers in order to enter the indoor hard court tournament's main event.

She only managed to win a single game against Anna Bondar in the opening set of the qualifying round but came back strong and looks a tough nut to crack.