PBL 2018: 3 epic clashes to look forward to in the Mumbai leg

#3 Carolina Marin (Pune 7 Aces) vs Beiwen Zhang (Awadhe Warriors)

Interestingly, Beiwen Zhang is one those players who has traditionally been a cause of concern for the reigning Olympic champion Carolina Marin. One look at their head-to-head record will corroborate this.

The two are tied 2-2 in their head-to-head matches. The American won their first couple of meetings in 2013 and since then the Spaniard won the next two, the latest of which was this year.

That should slightly tilt the balance in favour of the former World No. 1. Especially after the way Marin played in the second half of the season, winning the World Championships, the Japan Open and the China Open, she will indeed be having an edge in this encounter.

Having said that, it needs to be acknowledged that Zhang too had her best-ever season on the Tour and is now perched at No. 10. Her big title win at the India Open, beating PV Sindhu in the final from being match point down, shows how much determination and belief she has now.

Underestimating her would thus be foolish and anything less than her imperious best could land Marin in trouble when the two cross swords on the final day of the Mumbai leg.

About the author

Sudeshna is a veteran Indian Sports and International Tennis journalist as well as editor at Sportskeeda. She has an overall experience of over 10 years with top publications like The Bridge, Fox Sports Asia, and gained a keen interest in Indian sports since the 2002 Commonwealth and Asian Games when she was in school.

Sudeshna holds a Master's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. She attends tournaments regularly and being a highly experienced journalist, she ensures she only contacts the correct people from her network for the most authentic information to be put in her articles.

Sudeshna’s favorite Indian athlete is PV Sindhu owing to her big-tournament performances. She also admires Tennis legend Rafael Nadal for his resilience and has witnessed the Spaniard in action at the French Open, due to which, Roland Garros is her all-time favorite Grand Slam tournament.

Neeraj Chopra’s gold medal win at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics made a lasting impact on Sudeshna. She has also interviewed him along with Badminton star Chirag Shetty and several other sports personalities. She has done on-ground reporting on multiple ITF tournaments along with the Premier Badminton League, Asian Boxing Championships and the Davis Cup.

When not using her skills and years of experience in crafting compelling content, Sudeshna likes to read, watch movies and travel.

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Edited by Sripad