The bottom half of the women's draw at the Australian Open contest their second round matches tomorrow. The 21st seed, Ekaterina Makarova is a strong favorite heading into her clash against one of the few mothers playing on the tour, Tatjana Maria.
Recent Results
Makarova comes into the Australian Open behind a solid quarterfinal appearance in Sydney. After benefiting from the second round withdrawal of Angelique Kerber, she was bettered by Belinda Bencic in three sets. In the first round here in Melbourne, the Russian handled the Australian wildcard, Maddison Inglis without breaking a sweat, romping home 6-3, 6-0.
Maria, formerly known as Tatjana Malek prior to her marriage in 2013, lost her opening matches at Auckland and Hobart coming in here. Despite the lack of match play though, the German handled the Belarusian, Olga Govortsova easily enough 6-4, 6-3 in the first round.
Past Experience
Ranked as highly as number eight in April last year, Makarova has plenty of experience going deep in Grand Slam events. The 27-year-old has reached the semifinals of both the Australian and US Opens and has reached at least the fourth round in Melbourne since 2011. During the past four years, she has accounted for the likes of both Serena and Venus Williams at this tournament and defeated Simona Halep en route to the the semi finals last year. In addition, Makarova has won two WTA titles, the French and US Opens in women's doubles and the US Open mixed doubles.
Unsurprisingly, the career achievements of Maria pale in comparison. At best, the 28-year-old peaked at number 62 last July following a third round appearance at Wimbledon. That remains the only time she's advanced beyond the second round of a Grand Slam in four previous attempts. Undoubtedly the best achievements of Maria's career are winning 13 ITF titles, the WTA doubles in Quebec City 2012 and beating the then ranked number seven, Eugenie Bouchard in Miami last year.
Head-to-Head
The two players have never met before. Makarova will be strongly expected to come through this match given her past experience and ability. The current world number 24 has a deceptive lefty serve that will no doubt trouble Maria's one handed backhand. As Maria hits a looping, heavy ball, Makarova will have chance to take the ball early and groove her flat, acutely angled groundstrokes to best effect.
If Maria is going to upset the odds, she must mix up the pace and look to get Makarova on the move. Though the Russian defends surprisingly well, she doesn't enjoy being off balance and the world number 73 must exploit this with plenty of topspin and slice. This may prove tricky on a medium paced hard court, but as the now retired Kim Clijsters proved, having a child often improves a players mental fortitude and Maria will certainly make a match of it.
Prediction: Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets