The dream lives on for world No. 133 Zhang Shuai. The Chinese star stormed into the fourth round of the Australian Open with a comprehensive straight-sets victory over Varvara Lepchenko on Saturday. The 27-year-old will look to continue her fairytale run tomorrow when she takes on 15th-seeded Madison Keys in an intriguing round-of-16 showdown.
Read on below for an in-depth breakdown of this fourth-round matchup and while you’re at it, you can also check out our preview of the much-anticipated last-16 clash between Andy Murray and Bernard Tomic.
[sc:AUS15-250 ]Madison Keys barged into the fourth round of the 2016 Australian Open with a thrilling 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over Ana Ivanovic on Saturday. It was a fantastic performance by Keys who needed two hours and 25 minutes to record the come-from-behind victory. With the win, Puig reached the last 16 at Melbourne for the second year running.
Providing the impetus to Keys’ victory was her excellent return. Keys won 43 percent of her receiving points against Ivanovic with the American converting five of her 12 break point chances. She also found some success in her occasional forays to the net, winning 15 of her 20 points there. She has now won 76 percent (37-of-49) of her net points in this tournament thus far.
Next up for Keys is a fourth-round clash with Zhang Shuai. This will be the fifth meeting between Keys and Zhang in the WTA Tour with their head-to-head matchup currently knotted at two wins apiece. For Keys to defeat Zhang, she will need to limit her unforced errors. Keys committed 52 miscues in her three-set win against Ivanovic. She’s averaging 41 unforced errors in her first three matches here in the Australian Open.
Zhang Shuai booked a place in the fourth round of the Australian Open with a resounding 6-1, 6-3 victory over Varvara Lepchenko on Saturday. It was a flawless performance from Zhang who needed just one hour and four minutes to eliminate the American.
Just like in her previous three matches, Zhang’s serve was impressive once again. She converted 86 percent of her first serves against Lepchenko with Zhang winning 26 of her 43 first serve points. Zhang also blasted 27 winners in this match, stretching her tournament total to 76.
Zhang has been impeccable in this event thus far as she has yet to drop a set in her opening three matches. That’s quite a feat for Zhang who had lost all 14 first-round matches she had played at the Grand Slams prior to this year’s Australian Open. She will look to continue her excellent form when she takes on Madison Keys in the round of 16. She will fancy her chances against Keys as she has fared extremely well against the American on the hard courts. Zhang is 2-1 against Keys on this surface. Zhang defeated Keys, 4-6 6-1 6-4, in their last meeting at the Mexican Open back in 2014.
For Zhang to beat Keys and reach her first-ever Grand Slam quarterfinal, she will need to continue her excellent return play. She won 64 percent of her receiving points on Saturday with Zhang converting six of her eight break point opportunities.
