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When the draws for the year-ending Dubai Superseries Finals were announced on Monday, one of the intriguing contests to look forward to was the tussle between reigning World champion Carolina Marin and runners-up to her in the All England Championships and the World Championships earlier this year, Saina Nehwal.
The two modern-day superstars in Women's Singles were revealed in the same group and on Thursday, will face-off against one another in front of what is expected to be a packed Hamdan Sports Complex in Dubai.
Contrasting starts, but will the past matter?
The two head into the match after having different kinds of results in 2015 and also contrastingly different starts to their Dubai Superseries Finals campaign.
While the Spaniard romped home to a convincing 21-16 21-9 straight games win against Tzu Ying Tai it was a disappointing result for her Indian rival, who lost 21-14 21-6 to Nozomi Okuhara of Japan. Saina clearly didn't look 100% fully fit, failing to reach to the shuttle on several occasions, as and when Okuhara played a clinical drop shot on either side of the net.
Heading into her second match against the world champion on Thursday, there are not one but a few headaches that Saina will have to tackle. Firstly, the lack of optimum fitness would mean her movements around the court will continue to remain slow and Marin favours the shot down the line and that would mean Saina will need to be on her toes in order to avoid losing points.
Another feature of Marin’s play that Saina will need to be careful of is her ability to aim shots right at the opponent’s body, thereby giving the player at the other end the fraction of a second less to return the shuttle. It is a tactic that has brought the Spaniard a lot of success and there is no doubt that she will use it to good effect on Thursday.
Can Saina win the battle in the mind?
Along with countering these challenges, it will be an equally testing encounter for the Indian, mentally. Suffering a loss to an opponent is one thing, but to lose 21-14 21-6 to someone against whom she had a 4-0 head-to-head going into a fixture must definitely hurt.
But Saina isn't just known for her exploits on the court. The 25-year-old is renowned to possess fierce mental strength and that, and a lot of physical ability will be required as she gears up for perhaps her biggest challenge of 2015 so far.
