Ann Li vs Anastasia Potapova

🎾 WTA Hertogenbosch – First Round

Ann Li vs Anastasia Potapova

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🧠 Form & Context

Ann Li

• 📉 Inconsistent year: 14–12 in 2025 with scattered highs and lows, including wins over Fernandez and Sasnovich.
• 🌿 Grass credentials: 7–14 career record on grass; reached R16 here in 2022.
• ⚖️ Punchy but undersized: Uses agility and clean timing but can be overpowered on quicker surfaces.
• 🧱 Recent results: Decent showings in Roland Garros and Rabat, but lacks sustained form.

Anastasia Potapova

• 🚀 Quietly solid in 2025: 18–9 season with wins in Madrid, Rome, and a strong run at Roland Garros.
• 🌱 First match on grass this year: Career record of 14–11 on the surface; this is her Hertogenbosch debut.
• 🔥 Power baseline player: Can dominate rallies with weighty, aggressive groundstrokes.
• ⚠️ Vulnerable early: Occasionally vulnerable in openers if timing isn’t dialed in yet.

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🔍 Match Breakdown

• Li will try to turn this into a rhythm battle, using counterpunching and footspeed to disrupt Potapova’s timing.
• Potapova holds the advantage in firepower and will look to dominate early, especially with first-strike tennis.
• Grass favors Potapova’s game on paper, but first matches on the surface can be tricky if she starts slow.
• Potapova won their only H2H in 2022 on hard courts (6–2, 7–6), with a similar matchup pattern expected here.

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🔮 Prediction

Li can hang around and frustrate if Potapova isn’t sharp from the start, but the Russian’s heavy baseline game should prove too much unless she’s especially rusty.

🧩 Prediction: Potapova in straight sets – Expect a clean win if she finds her rhythm quickly.