Lucie Nguyen Tan and Alina Granwehr meet in the first round of WTA Montreux on September 8 at 09:00 UTC. Granwehr has home support and fresher legs; Nguyen Tan has court rhythm and one particularly useful memory.
Two routes to the same clay baseline
Nguyen Tan has taken the scenic route into the main draw, recovering from a set down in both qualifiers. She beat Dalila Spiteri 4-6 6-4 6-2 on Monday, again showing how much better she becomes once the rallies and court speed feel familiar.
Granwehr arrives rested after losing a three-hour, three-tiebreak match to Anja Stankovic in late August. Her clay level is well established, including July’s Aix-les-Bains title, but recent close matches have too often slipped away at the sharp end.
The Blois blueprint makes the price interesting
The obvious route for Nguyen Tan is to crowd Granwehr’s serve and keep the exchanges patient until a change of direction opens. That worked beautifully in their June clay meeting at Blois, where Nguyen Tan won 6-3 6-0, and she leads the overall series 2-1.
Fatigue is the honest concern after consecutive three-set qualifiers, especially given Nguyen Tan’s habit of slow starts. Even so, her matchup advantage, local court time and recent success under pressure make the outsider’s price generous rather than fanciful.
Prediction: Lucie Nguyen Tan to win, odds 2.474
