On Thursday, we’ll finish up the second round in St. Petersburg. Several big players will take the court, as well as a few great stories from the early rounds. Who will move on to the quarterfinals? Let’s find out.
WTA St. Petersburg Day 4 Predictions
Ekaterina Alexandrova vs Tereza Martincova
Not many people expected the world #181 to beat World #41 Putintseva in the first round but that’s exactly what Martincova did, marking one of the best wins of her career. She’ll now play Russian Alexandrova who also qualified for the event. Often we see players fail to back up a big win, and unfortunately that’s what I think we’ll see here. The 24-year-old Russian ranked over 100 places higher will continue her good run.
Prediction: Alexandrova in 2
Jelena Ostapenko vs Anastasia Pavlychenkova
We all expected the 2017 French Open champion to build off her maiden Grand Slam victory but since things have sort of fallen apart. Now ranked outside the top 20, the Latvian has a long way to go to return to the top of the game. Unfortunately for her, Pavlychenkova is coming off a quarterfinal at the Australian Open, where she was just two games away from the semis. Ostapenko is still only 21 years old and will no doubt find her way again, but it won’t be here.
Prediction: Pavlychenkova in 3
Kiki Bertens vs Ysaline Bonaventure
Since winning the title in Seoul late September, things have gotten off the rail for the World #8 Bertens, just winning back-to-back matches twice since then. Despite all this and her disappointing second round loss in Melbourne, she’s still the heavy favourite in this match. Bonaventure coming through qualifying and then a good first round win against another Russian, Siniakova, will make her match ready, but regardless of Bertens’ recent form this should be a step too far for the Belgian.
Prediction: Bertens in 2
Alison Van Uytvanck vs Aryna Sabalenka
Since mid-2018, Sabelenka has gone on a complete tear. Winning three events, including one just this month, she has firmly established herself as not only one of the most fiery characters on the WTA Tour but also one of the potential superstars for years to come. Her shock loss at the Australian Open was exactly that, shocking, but it shouldn’t affect her moving on. Van Uytvanck has barely won matches since August last year and against a top 10 player in Sabalenka she’s not going to get another win here.
Prediction: Sabalenka in 2
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
