Julia Goerges will face a first round showdown with Ksenia Pervak in this week’s WTA Monterrey Open

World No. 34 Julia Goerges enters this week’s WTA Monterrey Open as the No. 4 seed, and is looking to put a reasonably disappointing February behind her. The young German made the semi-finals in Auckland in January, but failed to make it past round two in this month’s tournaments in Bogota and Acapulco. She should be able to launch a title challenge this week, and she’ll begin her campaign with a first round clash against Ksenia Pervak.

Pervak enters this contest as an outsider, but has played fairly well so far this year. She reached the quarter-finals of this month’s WTA Memphis Open, and her ranking has been gradually improving since the beginning of the year. After breaking into the top hundred last season, Pervak looks set to make further advancements in 2011. That said, she’s expected to make an early exit here.

Pervak has a 1-0 head to head record against Goerges, following a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 victory in Portoroz in 2009. With this in mind, it’s evident that Pervak has the ability to give Goerges a serious challenge here.