As we anticipated, the Romanian duel in the first round of Hobart was won by Monica Niculescu, which won the qualification in the finals, where she will have the opponent against Varvara Lepchenko. No sooner than 09:00 (Romanian time), the two players will be due for a check of $ 6,100, 60 WTA points and a place in the quarterfinals.

Monica Niculescu
Although she faced her girlfriend Irina Begu, Mona gave her no chance and lost only 5 games in a controlled match from one end to the other.
With this victory, Niculescu scored the 11th match won in this competition, where the Romanian was present in 8 editions (including this one).

Varvara Lepchenko
The debutant in this competition, experienced player in the United States, Varvara has gone in 2 sets of Mona Barthel, score 6-0, 7-6.
Lepchenko came to Hobart after the premature elimination of Auckland, where he stopped in the finals, defeated by Kenin.
Given that 2017 was a good year on hard for this, with 21 wins from 33 matches played, Lepchenko wants to have a similar season in 2018.

Direct meetings
No less than 3 direct confrontations have taken place between the two players so far, with the score being in favor of our constanta 3-0. The last dispute took place in 2015 on the grass at Nottingham, when Mona set itself in 3 sets.
My tip Monica Niculescu – Varvara Lepchenko
As I did in the first round, I will do it for the finals, and I will bet on the victory of Monica Niculescu, the players I see as favorite for this duel.
It is true that Lepchenko is a rewarding, experienced, 31-year-old adversary, but the romance game’s style will definitely make him uncomfortable and make many miserable mistakes.
Moreover, I think Varvara has a complex in front of our conational, considering that he won no match from the three direct confrontations.
The US player is in the first place here, he does not know the surface and atmosphere of Hobart so well, and Mona has an advantage in this regard because he is in the 8th participation and especially if we take into account the previous year has reached the finals.

Prediction:Monica Niculescu win @ 1.67