Wednesday at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz will see the remaining first-round matches and a couple of bouts from the next stage of the tournament. The always unpredictable Jelena Ostapenko will have a tough time against qualifier Tamara Korpatsch. Meanwhile, the top seed Kiki Bertens will try to fend off an in-form Japanese player, Misaki Doi.
We also have predictions for four more Linz matches.
WTA Linz Open Day 3 Predictions
Jelena Ostapenko vs Tamara Korpatsch
Head-to-head: First meeting
The state of the Latvian’s game is always a huge question mark. Jelena Ostapenko plays first-strike, very intense tennis, and her consistency both in results and in keeping the ball in play is practically non-existent. Her second serve has been a huge weakness all season, often dropping many double faults. Still, when Ostapenko catches fire, she is extremely difficult to stop. However, Tamara Korpatsch will not be an easy opponent. The German came out of a very tough qualifying draw, having to beat Arantxa Rus and Cori Gauff and should be steady enough to take this more often than not.
Prediction: Korpatsch in 3
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Barbara Haas
Head-to-head: First meeting
Not an easy draw for the Austrian wild card. She was supposed to play the third seed Anastasia Sevastova, but the Latvian withdrew on Monday. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova might be ranked lower, but she’s been in stellar form lately, reaching the finals at the Toray Pan Pacific Open. Barbara Haas competes regularly at the ITF level. This will be her fifth attempt at getting a win at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz. Her past tries don’t exactly suggest she gets a shot at Pavlyuchenkova here. Expect the Russian to cruise.
Prediction: Pavlyuchenkova in 2
Kristina Mladenovic vs Donna Vekic
Head-to-head: 2-2
Donna Vekic was very impressive in her dismissal of Polona Hercog in Round 1. The Croat gave her opponent just two games. Vekic is an extremely clean-ball striker who can produce fantastic angles off the ground. Her game is very well suited to indoor conditions and she’s a much more stable player than Kristina Mladenovic. The Frenchwoman had one of her better days in the opening round, beating Katerina Siniakova 6-1 7-5. The head-to-head between Vekic and Mladenovic is tied at two wins apiece, but it’s the Croat who took both their meetings this year. Expect her to keep a steady level and use these recent wins as a nice, little confidence boost.
Prediction: Vekic in 2
(Editor’s note: Vekic vs Mladenovic is scheduled for day four at the Linz Open)
Kiki Bertens vs Misaki Doi
Head-to-head: Bertens 2-1
Kiki Bertens picked up a late wild card for the event, looking to gain points that would allow her to qualify for the WTA Finals in Shenzhen. Originally, she was supposed to play Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova before the third seed Anastasia Sevastova pulled out and the Russian took her spot in the draw. Bertens will now face Japanese Misaki Doi, who picked up some great results on the Asian swing. However, in these slick and fast indoor conditions, the Dutchwoman should be able to overpower her opponent, who was not too impressive in her qualifying campaign.
Prediction: Bertens in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
