WTA Beijing Open: Monica Niculescu vs. Virginie Razzano

Monica Niculescu will take on Virginie Razzano on Thursday for a place in the quarter-finals of the China Open.

Monica Niculescu produced an efficient performance to defeat Chanelle Scheepers 6-2, 6-1 in the second round of the China Open, and she’ll now be looking to make the most of her opportunity to go deep in this prestigious event. The Romanian dominated on Wednesday at the National Tennis Centre, and she now finds herself just one win away from the quarter-finals.

Niculescu’s third round opponent will be Virginie Razzano of France. Razzano is the world No. 110 at this moment in time, but she defied her ranking on Tuesday to beat fifteenth seed Roberta Vinci in straight sets (7-6(7), 6-0). Her results here could push her back into the top hundred.

Razzano was in the top twenty the last time she took on Niculescu. She won that match (Auckland, 2010) 7-5, 6-4, though this time around Niculescu is the in-form player. This looks like a match that could go either way, and it will be intriguing to see who leaves the court as the victor.