Generation duel at Church Road
Everywhere you look in German tennis, people are asking about the new generation. Nastasja Schunk is one of the hopefuls for the future who could perhaps follow in the big footsteps of Angelique Kerber. The 18-year-old from Mainz is competing for the first time in the senior women’s singles at Church Road and will face 34-year-old Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu in a generation duel on Tuesday.
The young German is even considered the favourite in this duel by the betting providers tested. The question will be how she handles competing on the very big tennis stage for the first time. Basically, she can go onto the court without any pressure because the expectations are still rather low. Therefore, Nastasja Schunk should enjoy the match on Tuesday and maybe there will be more to come.
Mihaela Buzarnescu has probably passed her zenith, although it was only short-lived anyway. In the summer of 2018, the Romanian was ranked 20th in the WTA rankings. She is no longer at that level today and that is why we are going with the bookmakers and giving a prediction on a win for the German ahead of the duel between Mihaela Buzarnescu and Nastasja Schunk.
It will probably come down to whether the Mainz-based player has her nervousness under control, because the 18-year-old is worlds apart between the lower-ranked tournaments she has played at so far and Wimbledon. Nevertheless, we think she will bring her qualities through and can imagine placing a tip between Mihaela Buzarnescu and Nastasja Schunk on a successful debut for the young German.
Mihaela Buzarnescu – Statistics & current form
Current world ranking: 127
Seeded position: unseeded
Despite her supposedly advanced tennis age of 34, Mihaela Buzarnescu is in the main draw of Wimbledon for only the fourth time. In 2018, she made it to the third round at Church Road. To date, that is her best result on the hallowed grass. Her record is rather mixed for such an experienced player with 3-3 wins.
Injury in Surbiton
On the WTA Tour, the Romanian has had only manageable success to date. She won her only title in San Jose in July 2018. Otherwise, Mihaela Buzarnescu has mainly played in lower-class tournaments, where she has only managed to win one tournament in the last five years. Therefore, she is a player who also seems to be beatable for the young German.
For this reason, we are even looking at the odds for a 2:0 win for the newcomer from Germany in the first round match between Mihaela Buzarnescu and Nastasja Schunk. This is also due to the fact that the Romanian has hardly played this month. The 34-year-old started her preparation for Wimbledon at the underclass tournament in Surbiton.
In the first round, Mihaela Buzarnescu beat Belgian Yanina Wickmayer in two sets. In her second match against Mariam Bolkvadze from Georgia she did not have any problems either, winning 7:5 and 6:0. In the quarter-finals, the Romanian was one set ahead against Jodie Burrage from Great Britain, but then had to retire due to injury.
Nastasja Schunk – Statistics & current form
Current world ranking: 154
Position in the seedings: unseeded
It’s a trip down memory lane for Nastasja Schunk, as she will try to play similarly good tennis at Wimbledon 2022 as she did at Wimbledon 2021. Last year, the Mainz-based player still played in the junior competition and even made it to the final there. After three sets against the Spaniard Ane Mintegi del Olmo, her dream was over.
Strong qualification of the Germans
Despite this, she showed that she can play strong tennis on grass and can bring her power to bear at Church Road. Another advantage of the young German is that she successfully fought her way through the qualifiers. She is the only German to have survived the bone-jarring Roehampton and is playing in the main draw at Church Road for the first time.
In the first qualifying match, Nastasja Schunk had no problems against Miriam Kolodziejova from the Czech Republic and won easily and relaxed 6:1 and 6:4. Jessica Pieri from Italy was also not a big hurdle in the two-set win. It was exactly the same in the decisive qualifying match against the US-American Danielle Lao.
Once again, the young German did not lose a set and won clearly 6:1 and 6:3. All in all, it can be said that the 18-year-old has mastered the qualifying with aplomb and if she manages to keep up this form and style of play in the main draw, then our tendency in the duel between Mihaela Buzarnescu and Nastasja Schunk continues to be towards a successful main draw debut for the German.
Mihaela Buzarnescu – Nastasja Schunk Direct comparison / H2H-balance
Natasja Schunk is still very new on the WTA Tour. At the age of 18, she has not yet played a match against very many of the established players. On Tuesday, the player from Mainz will meet Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu for the first time and we assume that this duel will not be very frequent given the age of her opponent.
Mihaela Buzarnescu – Nastasja Schunk Tip
With Mihaela Buzarnescu, the question is how fit she will be now after her injury from earlier this month. Actually, you should go onto the court in good physical condition, but especially at Wimbledon you definitely compete if you still have problems, especially as you don’t know how often the Romanian will have the opportunity to play at Church Road.
On Tuesday, the 34-year-old will have to deal with the up-and-coming German tennis hope. Nastasja Schunk was a finalist in last year’s junior tournament and has already shown her qualities in this year’s qualifiers.
We even think a 2:0 victory of the young German is possible. After all, she didn’t lose a set in the qualifiers, but of course it makes a difference whether you play qualifiers in Roehampton or now in the main draw at Church Road. That’s why we are shying away from the risk a little and are playing the odds on an easy win for the German in the match between Mihaela Buzarnescu and Nastasja Schunk.
