Day 1 at the Mutua Madrid Open brings back the defending champion, Petra Kvitova, to the Manolo Santana Court. It also showcases both multiple Grand Slam winning players and the stars of tomorrow. Here are my top four match previews and WTA Mutua Madrid Open Day 1 Predictions.
WTA Mutua Madrid Open Day 1 Predictions
Aryna Sabalenka vs Svetlana Kuznetsova
Head-To-Head Record: Sabalenka leads 1-0
A battle between the old and the new generation. It will be interesting to see who comes on top in this match.
Kuznetsova is a good player on clay, as she won Roland Garros in 2009 and has reached the final here in Madrid back in 2014. However, Kuznetsova is still on her comeback trail, and she has not played many tournaments this year, so this will be a big test for her in terms of how match-fit she is.
Sabalenka has had mixed results in her past three tournaments and clay is for sure not her preferred surface. The Belorussian is in the World’s top 10 right now for a reason, and should edge this match, but I will not surprised if it goes the distance.
Prediction: Sabalenka in 3
Su-wei Hsieh vs Caroline Garcia
Head-To-Head Record: Garcia leads 4-0
A complete contrast of styles here. Hsieh is the complete unorthodox player- double handed on both sides, and utilizes slice in most of her shots. On the other hand, Garcia is all power and likes to hit rather flat in all her shots.
Even though Garcia leads their head-to-head 4-0, Hsieh is having one of her best seasons in singles and reached the quarter-finals this week in Rabat, so she should not be underestimated. I can see Hsieh pulling off a possible win here, but she will have to play well.
Prediction: Hsieh in 3
Daria Kasatkina vs Victoria Azarenka
Head-To-Head Record: First meeting
Azarenka retired because of injury in the midst of her quarterfinal against Kontaveit in Stuttgart just a few days ago. The big question is: can she recover that quickly and beat a high quality player like Kasatkina?
Even though Azarenka is not the player as she once was, she can still pull off an upset here if she is fully fit. I am not sure the extent of Azarenka’s injury last week, so will give Kasatkina a slight advantage in this match- a very slight advantage.
Prediction: Kasatkina in 3
Petra Kvitova vs Sofia Kenin
Head-To-Head Record: Kvitova leads 1-0
Kvitova is arguably having one of her career best seasons, and is back to her career high ranking–No. 2. She is fresh off her title win in Stuttgart on clay last week and one of the heavy favorites to lift the trophy at the end of the week.
Kenin will have to hope she can play one of the matches of her life, and that Kvitova is having an off day, to stand any chance against the left-handed Czech.
Prediction: Kvitova in 2
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