The first Grand Slam tournament of the year, the Australian Open, will kick off on Monday, January 15th, and Romania will bring many top Top players to the start and hope is growing every year. In the male circuit, the only Romanian participant is Marius Copil. In the first round of the competition, around 2:00, Irina Begu will meet Russian Ekaterina Makarova.
Irina Begu
Irina, 30, is now the 40th place in the WTA circuit of the simple test.
He showed a good form at the beginning of the year, reaching the final quarterfinals in the Shenzen tournament, but managed to impose himself with Simona Halep on the double-shot of the same tournament.
He also took part in the Hobart tournament, but was eliminated in the first round of the competition by Monica Niculescu, having more training time for the Australian Open.
Ekaterina Makarova
The 29-year-old Russia player is currently ranked 33th in the WTA circuit of the simple test.
The 2017 season was a good one for Makarova, managed to impose on the Washington tournament, and in most of the tournaments it managed to reach the quarterfinals.
He took part only at the Sydney tournament this season, when he left the competition in the second round and was eliminated by Barbora Strycova.
Direct meetings
The Australian Open tournament match will be the 3rd straight encounter between the two players, the score being equal, 1-1, the last game taking place in 2015, where Makarova scored 2-1 in sets.