Nurnberg 2019: Thursday's Order of Play and Match Points

CENTRE -- 11:30 a.m. start
[1] Gabriela DABROWSKI (CAN) / XU Yifan (CHN) vs. Giorgia MARCHETTI (ITA) / Laura PIGOSSI (BRA)
Not before 1:00 p.m.
[1] Yulia PUTINTSEVA (KAZ) vs. [WC] Anna-Lena FRIEDSAM (GER)
Not before 2:00 p.m.
Madison BRENGLE (USA) vs. [2] Katerina SINIAKOVA (CZE)
Not before 4:00 p.m. -- after suitable rest
Mona BARTHEL (GER) / Anna-Lena FRIEDSAM (GER) vs. Alexa GUARACHI (CHI) / Sabrina SANTAMARIA (USA)
Not before 5:30 p.m.
Veronika KUDERMETOVA (RUS) vs. Tamara ZIDANSEK (SLO)

SHOW COURT 3 -- 1:00 p.m. start
[Q] Nina STOJANOVIC (SRB) vs. Sorana CIRSTEA (ROU)
[3] Raquel ATAWO (USA) / Katarina SREBOTNIK (SLO) vs. Shuko AOYAMA (JPN) / Yana SIZIKOVA (RUS)
Not before 4:30 p.m. -- after suitable rest
Sharon FICHMAN (CAN) / Nicole MELICHAR (USA) vs. Luisa STEFANI (BRA) / Nina STOJANOVIC (SRB)

MATCH POINTS

There will be a first-time Nurnberger Versicherungscup champion crowned this year after defending champion Johanna Larsson, the only former titlist in the field, fell to No.2 seed Katerina Siniakova in the second round on Wednesday.

Photos: Famous five: Nurnberg champions from Halep to Larsson

Siniakova brings a 1-0 head-to-head lead into her quarterfinal clash with Madison Brengle. In their only prior meeting, Siniakova defeated Brengle in straight sets at the Midland, MI, USA Challenger event in 2014.

Read more: Friedsam shocks Petkovic to keep resurgence alive in Nurnberg

Yulia Putintseva and Anna-Lena Friedsam will contest their first meeting in the Nurnberg quarterfinals. No.1 seed Putintseva seeks her first WTA singles title, after runner-up showings at 2017 St. Petersburg and 2018 Guangzhou.

Read more: Putintseva battles past Barthel to reach Nurnberg quarters

This will be the first meeting between Sorana Cirstea and Nina Stojanovic. This is the third straight year Cirstea has played at Nurnberg, and she has made the final eight each time -- she reached the semifinals in 2017 and the quarterfinals last year.

Tamara Zidansek has won her only previous encounter with Veronika Kudermetova, a three-set tussle at a clay-court Challenger event in Santa Margherita di Pula, Italy last year. This is the fourth WTA quarterfinal of the year for Kudermetova, and the third for Zidansek, but they both still seek their first-ever WTA singles final.