The OA’s Revenge!

The 32-year-old Australian is a regular at big events, known for her powerful baseline game and her fighting spirit. She's coming into this with an up-and-down start to the 2026 season, including a recent quarterfinal in Austin where she showed she can still compete with the very best.

At 28, the Romanian is having a thunderous start to 2026, flirting with her career-high ranking (72nd in the world). She’s a player who never gives up and loves surfaces where she can dictate play with her forehand, and she’s known for putting up a lot of resistance!

The two players faced each other just a few weeks ago in the second round of the 2026 Australian Open. Gabi Ruse won in straight sets (6-4, 6-4) in a match where she literally smothered the Australian with her consistency and was riding a wave of momentum. Since then, she hasn’t shown anything particularly noteworthy. On this type of surface and in this environment, the Romanian’s main weapon could well be disrupted, namely her strong serve! Alja will have all the time she needs to set up a defense worthy of a prison wall! As a very good returner, I doubt Ruse will find an easy path here.