To win it, Danka Kovinic will have to play the match of her life. The 27-year-old from Montenegro is yet to win a WTA singles title, although she has had her best year at the majors to date. She reached the third round of both the Australian Open and Roland Garros for the first time, posting a gutsy three-set victory against US Open champion Emma Raducanu in Melbourne. “After the first set, she was hitting her forehands. I have never in my life hit a single step forward. For sets, that’s basically what I did. I don’t know how it ended up so close,” Raducanu said Friday when asked about Kovinic’s game. “… I remember her being really, really solid, staying with you, hitting back. Then after you drop one after a long rally then it will attack. She’s happy to run, happy to rally. She is a great athlete. It will be a good match, I think.” Kovinic will look to recapture that strong defense from January tonight. She enters the match on a five-match losing streak after pulling out of Wimbledon with a lower back problem and has not won a match since the French Open in May. At No. 80 in the world, she is one of two players from Montenegro with a WTA ranking (the other is at No. 988). She reached a career high ranking of No. 46 in 2016.
