Alina Charaeva and Sinja Kraus meet in the round of 16 at Hamburg on Wednesday. Alina Charaeva is 6-4 across recent matches. Sinja Kraus has won 3 of the last 10.
The two have never played — a first meeting always adds a layer of uncertainty the numbers can't fully capture.
Charaeva's 65.3% behind the first serve (against 61.4% for Kraus) means break chances should be scarce in one direction. Charaeva comes in off a compressed schedule; Kraus comes in off a compressed schedule. The edge belongs to Charaeva — real, but not the kind you take for granted at this level.