Day 4 Preview - Karolina Muchova, Coco Gauff, Sofia Kenin

Today’s ASB Classic Watch

By Matt Brown, Newstalk ZB

DAY 4 PREVIEW: Karolina Muchova has flown under the radar at the ASB Classic. The 26-year-old Czech is ranked 151 in the world. But she’s a big name, supremely talented and has entered on her injury protected ranking of 22.

Muchova has struggled with abdominal and back injuries but is a powerful server, an aggressive player who has played in two Wimbledon quarter finals 2019 and 2021 and reached the 2021 Australian Open semis.

Muchova went 7-1 against top 10 opposition in 2021 and is a big threat in a bottom half of the draw that has opened up following the demise of second seed Sloane Stephens. She plays Romanian qualifier Elena-Gabriela Ruse for a place in the quarterfinals.

The match of the day has top seed Coco Gauff in form and confident against a player trying to find her way back into the form that took her to the Australian Open title in 2021, Sofia Kenin.

Two powerful ball strikers slugging it out in what is an intriguing contest. Another American Lauren Davis the champion here in 2017 plays 7th seed Danka Kovinic while crowd favourites Venus Williams, Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez return to the court for their second-round matches.