After top seed Julia Goerges was forced to retire from her debut due to injury, Caroline Garcia is now, theoretically, head and shoulders above the rest of the field at the WTA Lausanne. Will she live up to the expectations?
WTA Lausanne Wednesday Predictions
Alize Cornet vs Jasmine Paolini
Head to Head: first meeting
Another day, another lower-ranked Italian opponent for Cornet. The 2018 champion began her bid to defend her crown with an unimpressive 6-4 6-4 victory over No. 151 Martina Trevisan. While her No. 154 ranking might not scare Cornet, Paolini’s arrow is pointing up. The 23-year-old boasts a robust 11-2 record on clay since Roland Garros qualifying, including a $60,000 ITF title in Brescia. In Lausanne, Paolini has won her three matches in straights, but none of her rivals were of Cornet’s magnitude. Beating the Frenchwoman would be a big scalp for the 5’3” Italian. I doubt she has the weapons to hurt the third seed, though.
Prediction: Cornet in 2
Natalia Vikhlyantseva vs Daria Gavrilova
Head to Head: Gavrilova 1-0 Vikhlyantseva
Moscow native Gavrilova barely defeated her former compatriot Vikhlyantseva 5-7 6-4 6-3 at 2018 Rome, when the now-Australian was ranked No. 24 in the world. Things have gone awry for Gavrilova since, plummeting all the way to her current 91st spot, her worst ranking in four years. Furthermore, the 25-year-old was pushed to the edge in the round of 32 against local wild card Ylena In-Albon. It’s hard to be optimistic about her chances of overcoming Vikhlyantseva, who has collected respectable wins in 2019 over the likes of Carla Suarez, Andrea Petkovic, Krystina Pliskova or Anastasia Potapova.
Prediction: Vikhlyantseva in 3
Xinyun Han vs Liudmila Samsonova
Head to Head: Samsonova 1-0 Han
At 29 years of age, Han has never managed to become a top 100 player because she lacks a top level shot or skill. She can’t rip her groundstrokes on a consistent basis, nor is she excessively fast. A player must excel at something in order to play WTA events full-time; and she just doesn’t. Almost two months have gone by since Han beat her latest top 200 opponent.
In turn, Samsonova flashes a higher ceiling… but a lower floor. The 20-year-old Russian, who upset Pauline Parmentier in the first round, can flat out hit the ball, but also turn into an error machine. After a long slump, Samsonova has obtained at least a win in five consecutive tournaments. Their previous meeting took place at Roehampton, in the first round of Wimbledon qualifying, when Samsonova emerged victorious in three sets.
Prediction: Samsonova in 2
Bernarda Pera vs Caroline Garcia
Head to Head: first meeting
Tricky second round for No.2 seed Garcia. Pera is trending in the right direction lately, especially on dirt. In fact, the American southpaw is 9-1 in her last three tournaments on clay. Back in April, in her latest encounter on clay against a top 20 foe, Pera dismissed Quiang Wang. If Garcia lets Pera dictate with her spin-heavy forehand from the baseline, the former is in trouble. The ex-No. 4 in the WTA rankings is enjoying a topsy-turvy campaign, with several good wins but a lot of dismal performances. The outcome of this duel hinges on which version of Garcia shows up.
Prediction: Pera in 3
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