Late afternoon at the WTA Linz Open will see second seed Belinda Bencic contest qualifier Anna-Lena Friedsam. In-form players like Alison van Uytvanck or Donna Vekic will also take the court. Who do you think will advance? We also have another set of predictions for you.
WTA Linz Open Day 2 Predictions
Polona Hercog vs Donna Vekic
Head-to-head: First meeting
The ball-striking will be very clean in this match. Polona Hercog had a better post-US Open swing but indoors should be a different challenge. The Slovenian hits the ball with a lot of topspin and her game usually works best on clay or slower hard courts. Donna Vekic is better when stuck to the baseline and has a fantastic sense of angles around the court. The slicker surface should be of huge help to the Croat here.
Prediction: Vekic in 3
Alison Van Uytvanck vs Ysaline Bonaventure
Head-to-head: Van Uytvanck 2-0
Alison Van Uytvanck has a fantastic pedigree on indoor hard courts. She captured three of her four WTA titles on this surface, including the Hungarian Ladies Open in Budapest this year. Her high-risk, high-reward game is very well suited to these conditions. She’ll also be entering the Upper Austria Ladies Linz with a ton of confidence, having won the Tashkent Open two weeks ago. Ysaline Bonaventure has very little power in her groundstrokes and will be pushed to defence all match long here. On top of that, Van Uytvanck has already topped her twice this year.
Prediction: Van Uytvanck in 2
Kristina Mladenovic vs Katerina Siniakova
Head-to-head: Siniakova 4-3
An interesting rivalry, tied at 1-1 indoors. Katerina Siniakova won four years ago in Moscow, but Kristina Mladenovic responded with a pretty comfortable win in Sankt Petersburg in 2018. The Frenchwoman is very erratic, mixing up great performances with getting destroyed by mediocre opponents. Just recently, Mladenovic picked up only ten games in three consecutive matches. She clinched her only career title indoors and these conditions should generally work to her advantage. Siniakova will be her solid self but if Mladenovic turns up, it won’t be enough.
Prediction: Mladenovic in 3
Belinda Bencic vs Anna-Lena Friedsam
Head-to-head: Bencic 1-0
It’s a three-way race for the last WTA Finals spot between Belinda Bencic, Elina Svitolina, and Kiki Bertens. The Swiss is in a losing position, as both Svitolina and Bertens are playing Moscow this year. That means Bencic will need a brilliant result this week or a wildcard to Luxembourg/Moscow to have a chance at catching up. Anna-Lena Friedsam is far from a perfect opponent for her. The German played great to beat Caty McNally and Shelby Rogers and advance to the main draw. However, with the WTA Finals berth in mind, expect Bencic to be extremely motivated to take this.
Prediction: Bencic in 3
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