Wimbledon Qualifying 2021: Tsvetana Pironkova vs Ana Konjuh preview, head-to-head & prediction

Match details

Fixture: (8) Tsvetana Pironkova vs (23) Ana Konjuh

Date: 25 June 2021

Tournament: Wimbledon 2021

Round: Final Qualification Round

Venue: London, England

Category: Grand Slam

Surface: Grass

Prize money: £35,000,000

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video

Tsvetana Pironkova vs Ana Konjuh preview

Tsvetana Pironkova and Ana Konjuh will square off in the final qualification round of the 2021 Wimbledon Championships on Friday.

Pironkova - who has reached the second week at Wimbledon on multiple occasions - is making a return to the All England Club after a gap of four years. But the Bulgarian needed virtually no time to find her stride on grass; she has made her way to the final round of qualification for the loss of just four games.

Against a resurgent Konjuh though, Pironkova is set to face her biggest test yet.

Ana Konjuh

Konjuh has had to spend a significantly longer amount of time on court in her two match wins so far.

The talented youngster had to dig deep in her last match against Russia's Varvara Flink, but managed to come through 6-0, 5-7, 6-3 after an hour and 43 minutes. Konjuh will now be eyeing a return to the Wimbledon main draw for the first time since 2018.

Tsvetana Pironkova vs Ana Konjuh head-to-head

This is set to be the first career meeting between Tsvetana Pironkova and Ana Konjuh, so their current head-to-head stands at a 0-0 deadlock.

Tsvetana Pironkova vs Ana Konjuh prediction

Tsvetana Pironkova has dropped just four games in her first two matches.

This is a fairly well-balanced match-up, as both Tsevtana Pironkova and Ana Konjuh enjoy playing on grass and have had good results on the surface in the past.

Pironkova is very comfortable with her movement on the surface. Her naturally low-bouncing shots, forehand slice and powerful first serve - all accentuated by the fast court conditions - have troubled even the best at Wimbledon.

First serve numbers will be key for the Bulgarian against Konjuh, who has been aggressive on return in her last two matches. Konjuh can generate a lot of power off both flanks, and will look to attack any second serve or short ball.

The one area where the Croat could use some improvement is consistency, as she has leaked a few too many errors at times.

Pironkova definitely has the game to get under her opponent's skin, but she will need to find a way to bring together all the smaller elements of her game on Friday. If she can manage that and keep Konjuh on the run, she should be able to walk away with the win.

Prediction: Tsvetana Pironkova to win in two tight sets.