By Ros Satar
- Katie Boulter [WC] v Yulia Starodubtseva [Q]
- Sonay Kartal v Janice Tjen [6]
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND – Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal will attempt to join Fran Jones in the second round as they get their Auckland campaigns underway.
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Katie Boulter [WC] v Yulia Starodubtseva [Q] | H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Katie Boulter [WC] v Yulia Starodubtseva [Q] | H2H: First Meeting |
| WTA Auckland | New Zealand |
| Hard (O) | Prize Money: $3065 |
| First on Centre Court, at 11:30am (10:30pm GMT) | Sky/Now TV <- Subscription Required |
Katie Boulter will kick off a British double-header when she takes on Ukrainian qualifier Yulia Starodubtseva.
Tale of the Tape – Key Stats (2025)
| H2H: | Katie Boulter (WR 112) | Yulia Starodubtseva (WR 111) |
| Tournament Previous Best | Qualification (2018) | R1 (2025) |
| 1st Serve Return Points Won % | 35.9 | 38.0 |
| Return Points Won % | 43.0 | 43.8 |
| Break Point Conversion % | 47.1 | 46.8 |
| Break Points Saved % | 47.2 | 54.0 |
| Overall Service Points Won % | 53.8 | 54.8 |
Closely matched in ranking, the end of year Boulter seemed to lose a little bit of momentum. Coming in with a wildcard, she will be facing a player who already has a couple of rounds under her belt this year.
Playing Styles & Prediction
Boulter will have to fight her way back up the rankings having been as high as world No. 23. It has been a frustrating time, with the ever present battles with injury and a rough turn of form at the end of the year, which saw her part ways with Biljana Veselinovic after three years. She is now teaming up with Maria Sharapova’s former coach Michael Joyce and will hope it will yield some strong results.
She will face a fellow aggressive baseliner who has made some improvements to her first serve but while she is fit and a little more match-sharp, she can be inconsistent and vulnerable on her second serve.
Prediction: Boulter in three sets.
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Sonay Kartal v Janice Tjen [6] | H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Sonay Kartal v Janice Tjen [6] | H2H: First Meeting |
| WTA Auckland | New Zealand |
| Hard (O) | Prize Money: $3065 |
| Second on Grandstand, not before 1pm (Midnight GMT) | Sky/Now TV <- Subscription Required |
Sonay Kartal makes her Auckland debut against sixth seed Janice Tjen.
Tale of the Tape – Key Stats (2025)
| H2H: | Sonay Kartal (WR 68) | Janice Tjen (WR 54) |
| Tournament Previous Best | Debut | Debut |
| 1st Serve Return Points Won % | 36.5 | 35.8 |
| Return Points Won % | 43.1 | 43.8 |
| Break Point Conversion % | 48.2 | 44.1 |
| Break Points Saved % | 57.2 | 63.2 |
| Overall Service Points Won % | 59.4 | 63.6 |
There are a couple of areas that Kartal might want to exploit to upset one of the seeds early on.
Playing Styles & Prediction
Kartal’s disruptive style of play will match up to the Ashleigh Barty-inspired Tjen – certainly in terms of variety. Tjen is handy at the net, aggressively so, and can mix up her groundstrokes which makes her unconventional.
Kartal will need to pull on her mental strength and they are not too far from each other in the rankings and will need to stay on attack and not give in t her tendency to sometimes revert to the passive.
Prediction: Tjen in three sets.
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