MATCH POINTS
2009 and 2010 champion Venus Williams seeks to snap a three-match losing streak dating back to last October in a first encounter with qualifier Kaja Juvan. The No.5 seed's last match win was against Barbora Strycova in the first round of Beijing. Meanwhile, Juvan - playing in her sixth WTA-level main draw, having already taken a set from Serena Williams at Wimbledon last year - will be bidding for her fourth career Top 100 victory.
2012 and 2013 champion Sara Errani, a qualifying wildcard this year, is 2-0 against Sara Sorribes Tormo to date. This will be their first encounter off clay; previously, the Italian won 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 in the third round of Charleston 2015 and 6-1, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the 2018 Bol 125K.
2016 champion and No.1 seed Sloane Stephens faces World No.270 Renata Zarazua for the first time. Stephens is bidding to snap a four-match losing streak dating back to Beijing last October; the American has also lost her last four (and seven of her last nine) matches against players ranked outside the Top 100 (Svetlana Kuznetsova in Cincinnati, Anna Kalinskaya at the US Open, Liudmila Samsonova in Brisbane and Arina Rodionova in Adelaide). Wildcard Zarazua is seeking her third career WTA main draw win (after defeating Kristyna Pliskova at Acapulco 2018 and Ajla Tomljanovic at Bogota 2018), and fourth Top 100 scalp.
2014 runner-up Christina McHale leads the head-to-head against No.4 seed Lauren Davis 4-1, including the last three. Davis's sole win came 7-5, 6-3 in the first round of Strasbourg 2013; the pair have not played since Birmingham qualifying in 2016, which McHale took 6-2, 6-3, and today will mark their first hardcourt encounter.
Roland Garros girls' champion Leylah Fernandez, who scored her first Top 5 win when she stunned Belinda Bencic 6-2, 7-6(3) in Fed Cup Qualifier action three weeks ago, will seek her second career WTA main draw win (following her defeat of Gabriela Dabrowski on her main draw debut at Québec City 2018) in a first meeting with Nina Stojanovic. The 17-year-old Fernandez is the youngest player in the main draw.
I had the best time at the Player’s Party in Acapulco! I’m very excited to be playing in the Main Draw of the 2020 Abierto Mexicano! 🇲🇽♥️
— leylahfernandez (@leylahfernandez) February 24, 2020
Me divertí enormemente en el Players Party del Abierto de Acapulco! Y muy feliz de entrar a la tabla principal del Abierto Mexicano 2020! pic.twitter.com/VGiWMAOorx
ORDER OF PLAY (all courts start 4pm)
ESTADIO
[Q] Kaja JUVAN (SLO) vs [5/WC] Venus WILLIAMS (USA)
GRANDSTAND
After 2 ATP matches
[1] Sloane STEPHENS (USA) vs [WC] Renata ZARAZUA (MEX)
CANCHA 2
Katie BOULTER (USA) vs Jasmine PAOLINI (ITA)
[Q] Sara ERRANI (ITA) vs Sara SORRIBES TORMO (ESP)
Christina MCHALE (USA) vs [4] Lauren DAVIS (USA)
[Q] Usue Maitane ARCONADA (USA) vs [Q] Caroline DOLEHIDE (USA)
CANCHA 3
[6] ZHU Lin (CHN) vs Katarina ZAVATSKA (UKR)
[Q] Leylah FERNANDEZ (CAN) vs Nina STOJANOVIC (SRB)
Shelby ROGERS (USA) vs [WC] Katie VOLYNETS (USA)
CANCHA 1
After 1 ATP match
Nao HIBINO (JPN) / Heather WATSON (GBR) vs Dalila JAKUPOVIC (SLO) / Danka KOVINIC (MNE)
Kateryna BONDARENKO (UKR) / Sharon FICHMAN (CAN) vs Marie BOUZKOVA (CZE) / Renata VORACOVA (CZE)
Anna KALINSKAYA (RUS) / Anastasia POTAPOVA (RUS) vs [2] Desirae KRAWCZYK (USA) / Giuliana OLMOS (MEX)
