L. Zhu - Wang Xiy

Kessler McCartney - a 26-year-old American known for her high game technique and excellent movements on the court, while her opponent Jacquemot Elsa - admits that she can sometimes make a mistake, her movements are poor and she often makes unforced errors.

Pavlyuchenkova Anastasia - a 34-year-old Russian with no form at all, suffered a more serious injury last year. As a result, she only played in 14 tournaments, of which 8 ended in first round losses. This year, she participated in three tournaments and lost in the first round of each.
Meanwhile, Mertens has been in decent form since 2025 and reached the R16 at this year's Australian Open. She also had a strong performance at the start of the season at the United Cup tournament, where she defeated Mboko and Krejcikova and played against Bencic. So her form seems great.
Additionally, she has a three-game losing streak in the H2H series, so her motivation should also be strong.