Day 3 of the WTA Cincinnati Premier event includes many extremely competitive matches for WTA tennis fans to enjoy. Recent Wimbledon Champion Simona Halep looks to rebound from an injury scare at the Rogers cup, while top big names on the WTA tour including Madison Keys and Karolina Pliskova look to stake a claim for the coveted title in Cincinnati. We also have predictions for every other WTA Cincinnati match Wednesday.
WTA Cincinnati Day 3 Predictions
Madison Keys vs Daria Kasatkina
Head to head: 4-0 Keys
This rivalry has been one-sided in favor of the American, including a 6-2 6-1 romping at the 2017 edition of this very tournament. However, Daria Kasatkina did well to her first match of the week against Wimbledon semifinalist Barbara Strycova. With the fast courts of Cincinnati being an important consideration, expect Keys’ big serve and powerful groundstrokes to be too much for Kasatkina. Keys’ dominance in their rivalry should continue in this contest.
Prediction: Keys in 2
Karolina Pliskova vs Yafan Wang
Head to head: First Meeting
Karolina Pliskova’s play has been a little inconsistent of late, but she did have a decent week at the Rogers Cup before falling to the eventual champion Bianca Andreescu. Despite that, she has a big serve and powerful forehand that should be extremely potent in Cincinnati. Yafan Wang took down Rio Olympic Champion Monica Puig, with very quality and controlled tennis in her last match. However, she just doesn’t have the tools to trouble World #3 Pliskova. Look for a strong serving day and many winners to come off Pliskova’s forehand wing.
Prediction: Pliskova in 2
Sofia Kenin vs Zarina Diyas
Head to head: First Meeting
Sofia Kenin’s stock is on the rise. She won the 2019 Mallorca Open over Belinda Bencic and had a wonderful showing last week at the Rogers cup taking, out then-World #1 Ashleigh Barty and another Top 10 foe in Elina Svitolina. Zarina Diyas is a quality professional and a veteran of the women’s game that works hard for every point. However, I do not think she will have enough firepower to get through Kenin. Neither player has a big serve, but Kenin hits really big groundstrokes. On top of that, she has shown a lot of mental toughness in her recent matches. This matchup strongly favors Kenin.
Prediction: Kenin in 2
Ekaterina Alexandrova vs Simona Halep
Head to head: First meeting
The big question going into this match is how will Simona Halep fare after her injury last week at the Rogers Cup. Despite retiring with an achilles injury, she has decided her health his in good enough condition to compete this week in Cincinnati. Halep’s game depends on her movement, so her injury will need to be a thing of the past if she is to win against a quality opponent in Ekaterina Alexandrova. With a convincing win against the veteran Carla Suarez-Navarro, Alexandrova will be confident and take advantage of any potential hiccups Halep may have with her movement. With a quality forehand shot, she may be able to give Halep problems, but ultimately Halep’s movement will prove to be too much.
Prediction: Halep in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
