ORDER OF PLAY
CENTRE COURT -- 12:00 noon start
Ons JABEUR (TUN) vs. [WC] Jelena OSTAPENKO (LAT)
[Q] Coco GAUFF (USA) vs. [3] Aryna SABALENKA (BLR)
Karolina MUCHOVA (CZE) vs. [7] Elise MERTENS (BEL)
Not before 6:00 pm
[Q] Veronika KUDERMETOVA (RUS) vs. [2] Karolina PLISKOVA (CZE)
[Q] Daria KASATKINA (RUS) vs. Jennifer BRADY (USA)
COURT 1 -- 2:00 p.m. start
Magda LINETTE (POL) / Jil TEICHMANN (SUI) vs. [2] Barbora KREJCIKOVA (CZE) / Katerina SINIAKOVA (CZE)
After suitable rest
[1] Elise MERTENS (BEL) / Aryna SABALENKA (BLR) vs. Jelena OSTAPENKO (LAT) / Vera ZVONAREVA (RUS)
Even though we achieved so many good results, our friendship is what I cherish the most! Thank you for all the lifetime memories, and I wish you all the best in the next chapter of your life! Happy retirement 😘@juliagoerges pic.twitter.com/hxznRANPaE
— Karolina Pliskova (@KaPliskova) October 21, 2020
MATCH POINTS
Czech No.1 Karolina Pliskova will make her Ostrava debut at the inaugural J&T Banka Ostrava Open when she faces Russian qualifier Veronika Kudermetova on Thursday. The pair have split their two previous meetings; most recently, Kudermetova stunned Pliskova at the Western & Southern Open this summer for her first-ever win over a player ranked in the Top 3.
If World No.6 Pliskova can avenge her Western & Southern Open loss to Kudermetova, she will move into her fourth quarterfinal of the season. Pliskova's best results thus far in 2020 are a successful title defense in Brisbane and a runner-up showing in Rome. No.2 seed Pliskova has a 14-7 win-loss record this season.
No.3 seed Aryna Sabalenka will play her first Ostrava match against American teenager Coco Gauff. 16-year-old Gauff, who came through qualifying this week, outlasted Sabalenka in three tough sets in their only prior meeting, which took place this summer in Lexington.
— Elise Mertens (@elise_mertens) October 21, 2020
2017 Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko and Ons Jabeur will square off for the first time at a WTA event. They did meet once before at an ITF Challenger event in Poland in 2015, where Ostapenko prevailed in straight sets in a clay-court quarterfinal. Ostapenko earned the 20th Top 20 win of her career with a first-round upset of Petra Martic on Wednesday.
No.7 seed Elise Mertens and Karolina Muchova will face off in their first-ever meeting on Thursday. With her first-round victory over Amanda Anisimova, Mertens tied Elena Rybakina for the most match-wins on tour so far this season (29).
Jennifer Brady and Daria Kasatkina will also meet for the first time on Thursday. Brady's two most recent tournaments prior to this week were Grand Slam events: she fell in the first round at Roland Garros, but prior to that, she reached her first major semifinal at the US Open.
