Monica Puig looks to continue her strong start to the season with a first round win at the Australian Open. However, she'll have to get through Magda Linette first.
Linette's Early Season Struggles
Linette was scheduled to start her year in Shenzhen, but withdrew due to a gastrointestinal illness. She recovered in time to play qualifying in Sydney, but lost in the first round to third seed Lucie Hradecká 6-3, 6-3.
Puig's Strong Start
Puig began 2016 by defeating Misa Eguchi in qualifying in Auckland before a second round loss to Tamira Paszek 7-6(5), 6-3.
In Sydney, Puig once again entered qualifying and started with a very comfortable win over Andreea Mitu 6-2, 6-3. She followed that up with a 7-5, 6-1 over Yulia Putintseva. In her final round qualifying match, the Puerto Rican lost the first set to seventh seed Polona Hercog 2-6 before routing the Slovenian 6-1 in both the 2nd and 3rd set.
Now in the main draw, Puig caught a break by playing lucky loser Magdalena Rybarikova and emerging with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 victory. In the 2nd Round, Puig played a near flawless match, crushing Anna Schmiedlova 6-1, 6-0 to advance to the quarterfinals where she hit 14 aces in surprising Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-4. In the semifinals against Belinda Bencic, Puig won the first four games before rain forced the match to be suspended. When resumed the next day, Puig took the 1st set 6-0 before Bencic retired. Puig was now in her 1st Premier level final and faced Svetlana Kuznetsova. The Russian used her savvy and experience to dismantle a nervous Puig 6-0, 6-2.
Previous Meetings
Linette has won 2 of the 3 previous matches against Puig, but all of those matches were at the ITF level.
What To Expect
Puig is very fast and uses her speed to retrieve a lot of balls. Her serve is getting better as evidenced by her run in Sydney. Against Linette, she'll be looking to hit a lot of forehand as the Pole's favorite shot is her backhand.
Prediction: Puig in straight sets. Although Linette is ranked higher and has also reached a final in her career, Puig has tremendous momentum from her performance in Sydney and with her improved serve, she should win more free points and take advantage of Linette's forehand.