TennisSection previews the 2021 Wimbledon Championships as Sloane Stephens meets Liudmila Samsonova in the Third Round on Friday July 2nd, 2021.
American star Sloane Stephens will face Liudmila Samsonova for a spot in the Round of 16 at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships. While the pair are unseeded, they have both played outstanding tennis so far, each upsetting seeded players on the way. Will the former Grand Slam champion Stephens get the win here and advance to the next round? Or does the young Russian have a trick up her sleeve?
Sloane Stephens is currently ranked #73 on the WTA Tour, and is unseeded here at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships. The former US Open champion has been ranked in the top 5 before, but has seen her career go on a sharp decline over the past few years. After showing glimpses of returning to form this year, she entered Wimbledon in decent form but was not expected to go very far here, especially since she was drawn against former champion Petra Kvitova. However, the American played fantastic tennis to cause the massive upset, and then followed it up with a routine win over Kristie Ahn. Now that her confidence is seemingly back she will be a very difficult opponent, especially since the draw has now opened up for her. She has yet another winnable match here but enters this match as the underdog due Liudmila Samsonova’s incredible form.
Liudmila Samsonova is unseeded here at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships, and is ranked #65 on the WTA Tour. The Russian Wild Card is currently on a nine match winning streak, including her title run at the Berlin Grass Court Championships the week before, where she defeated several top players en route to the title. With that title she has built some serious momentum and carried that into Wimbledon, most notably upsetting the 22nd seeded Jessica Pegula in the Second Round. She has clearly impressed the oddsmakers, and is one of the top 10 favorites for the event due to her outstanding form. While Sloane Stephens is a former top 5 player, Samsonova is clearly at home on the grass and in this type of form will be very hard to stop.
This will be the second meeting between the two players on the WTA Tour, with the Russian leading the head to head series 1-0. They faced each other last year in Brisbane, with Samsonova winning a very close three setter on hard courts. This match really can go either way and is a tough one to call, but I have to go with the in-form Liudmila Samsonova. The young Russian is on a serious hot streak, and has defeated numerous good players during her nine match winning streak. Now that Sloane Stephens has her confidence back she will be an extremely tough opponent, but has never displayed prolonged good form on grass. It will be very close, likely three sets, but we are backing Samsonova to get the win and advance to the Third Round here at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships.
Free Tennis Pick and Prediction: Liudmila Samsonova to win in three sets
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