WTA US Open 2011 Preview: Andrea Petkovic vs. Carla Suarez Navarro

Andrea Petkovic will attempt to close in on the U.S Open title when she meets Carla Suarez Navarro tonight on the fourth round.

Andrea Petkovic was dancing once again on Saturday night, as she rounded off a confident 6-4, 6-0 victory over eighteenth seed Roberta Vinci in the third round of the U.S Open. The German is now on the brink of reaching her third slam quarter-final of the season, and on current form it looks like she’s a potential title contender. The 23 year-old will be vying for a place in the last eight tonight when she takes on unseeded Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro. Suarez Navarro measures in at just over half a foot shorter than Petkovic, and she’ll need to be quick on her feet to threaten an upset. She had little difficulty in defeating Silvia Soler-Espinosa in round three, but can expect a far tougher matchup against the tenth seed.

Suarez Navarro currently holds a 1-0 head to head record against Petkovic, having beaten her in last year’s Australian Open. Petkovic has matured as a player since then though, and the mental toughness that she cited as a reason for her success against Vinci could well be on display tonight. Petkovic will enter this clash as the favourite.