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Match details
Fixture: Venus Williams vs Sorana Cirstea
Date: 24 May 2021
Tournament: Internationaux de Strasbourg 2021
Round: First Round (Round of 32)
Venue: Strasbourg, France
Category: WTA 250
Surface: Red clay
Prize money: $235,238
Match timing: Not before 5 pm local time, 3 pm GMT, 11 am EST
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video
Venus Williams vs Sorana Cirstea preview
Venus Williams will take on Istanbul champion Sorana Cirstea in a mouth-watering first-round clash at the 2021 Internationaux de Strasbourg.
Williams, 40, has suffered first-round exits in her last three main draw appearances and will look to rediscover her form ahead of Roland Garros. However, the seven-time Major winner could not have been handed a tougher opener in France.
Cirstea has been a regular feature on the tour for more than a decade. The Romanian reached a career-high ranking of 21 back in 2013, but has since slipped down the charts.
She started the 2021 season in fine fashion with strong performances in Melbourne, where she beat Belinda Bencic at an Australian Open warm-up event and upset Petra Kvitova at the year's first Slam.
She built on those results with a fine showing in Istanbul, defeating the likes of Fiona Ferro, Marta Kostyuk and Elise Mertens en route to the title.
Venus Williams vs Sorana Cirstea head-to-head
Having won all three of their encounters so far, Venus Williams leads the head-to-head over Sorana Cirstea 3-0. The American hasn't dropped a set to the Romanian in any of their meetings, the last of which came in 2018.
Venus Williams vs Sorana Cirstea prediction
Venus Williams has struggled for form and fitness the last couple of years. While she has shown flashes of brilliance during her matches this season, she has lacked consistency.
The American has always possessed a high-risk game, but she has leaked too many cheap errors in recent matches and has struggled to stay focussed in some of the longer encounters.
Against Sorana Cirstea, she will have to hit the ground running. The Romanian likes to take charge of rallies with her aggressive groundstrokes from the back of the court. She is also a good mover on clay and possesses a strong serve.
For Williams to stand a chance of beating Cirstea, she will have to make use of her variations and approach the net as often as possible to avoid a baseline slugfest.
Prediction: Sorana Cirstea to win in two tight sets.
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