(Reuters) – A look at the records of Romania’s Simona Halep and Belarus’s Victoria Azarenka before their third-round match at Wimbledon on Friday (prefix number denotes seeding):
Tennis – Wimbledon – All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain – July 1, 2019 General view of the first round match between Romania’s Simona Halep and Belarus’ Aliaksandra Sasnovich REUTERS/Toby Melville
7-SIMONA HALEP
Age: 27
WTA Ranking: 7 (Highest ranking: 1)
Grand Slam titles: 1 (French Open 2018)
2018 Wimbledon performance: Third round
Best Wimbledon performance: Semi-finals (2014)
Halep has looked far from comfortable on grass and had to overcome a mid-match wobble to beat Romanian compatriot Mihaela Buzarnescu in the previous round.
She faces another major test against fellow former world number one in Azarenka, although she beat the Belarusian at the All England Club the last time they faced off two years ago.
VICTORIA AZARENKA
Age: 29
WTA Ranking: 40 (Highest ranking: 1)
Grand Slam titles: 2 (Australian Open 2012, 2013)
2018 Wimbledon performance: Second round
Best Wimbledon performance: Semi-finals (2011, 2012)
Azarenka has had struggles both on and off the court since returning to the game two years ago, having taken a maternity break following the birth of her son Leo.
But the double Grand Slam champion has shown glimpses of her best form this season and will look to push Halep all the way in search of her first win over the Romanian since 2012.
HEAD-TO-HEAD: 2-2
2017 Halep d Azarenka 7-6(3) 6-2 (Wimbledon, grass)
2015 Halep d Azarenka 6-3 4-6 6-4 (U.S. Open, hard)
2012 Azarenka d Halep 6-1 6-1 (Linz, hard)
2012 Azarenka d Halep 6-3 6-1 (Doha, hard)
Compiled by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon