Skupski/Smith - Gong/Zhang

Both are very technical clay players. Both are quite strong at lower level tournaments. Zidansek is a slightly higher level player, but the main arguments for today's choice are as follows: they met a week ago and it was a 6:4; 6:4 victory for Zidansek. Zidansek looked very bad in her last match against Radivojevic, perhaps she was still recovering, but it gave the impression that she might not have been able to handle the physical aspect or may have had a minor injury.
The Spaniard Lazaro Garcia Andrea plays well at home. This season she looks good.
Usually in the early rounds the scores are 2:0, so this is a good opportunity to take a riskier option.

Challenger, both very technical clay players. Both are fairly strong on lower level clay courts. Zidansek is a slightly higher level player, but the main arguments for today's choice are: both met last week and Zidansek won in two sets with scores of 6:4; 6:4. Zidansek looked very poorly in her last match against Radivojevic, of course, she may have been exhausted, but the impression was that she may not have been able to hold up physically, or had some minor injury. Spaniard Lazaro Garcia Andrea plays at home. This season she looks good. In the first rounds, the most common scores are 2:0, so this is a chance to take a riskier option.