Monday starts Day 1 at the Australian Open. The 2020 Grand Slam season is here, and LWOT writers are here to offer our thoughts. Not only did we do a roundtable set of predictions, but we will do match-by-match predictions for as much as we can throughout the tournament. On Day 1, we have five sets of predictions for you. Each set includes four matches. In addition to this one, we also have sets featuring Ashleigh Barty vs Leisa Tsurenko, Naomi Osaka vs Marie Bouzkova, Anastasia Potapova vs Serena Williams, and Venus Williams vs Coco Gauff. Predicting this set of matches are Tracey Essex, myself (Yesh Ginsburg), and Jim Smith.
Australian Open Day 1 Women’s Predictions
Madison Keys vs Daria Kasatkina
Tracey:
American Madison Keys is coming off a run to the finals in Brisbane. As long as the American manages unforced erros and hits with controlled power, she can beat anyone. She certainly leads the head to head with Daria Kasatkina still looking for a way through the Keys game.
Prediction: Keys in 2
Yesh:
Kasatkina shot to the top of the rankings and then quickly fell back to where she is now. She’s talented, but doesn’t have the power or serve to take on a consistently strong player like Keys. The American should cruise.
Prediction: Keys in 2
Jim:
Madison Keys made an excellent start to her season at the Brisbane International, where it took the very best of Karolina Pliskova to deny her in the final. The American is at her best when playing on the front foot, but she is also a fine athlete. Daria Kasatkina, meanwhile, has slightly arrested her decline, but she is hardly a player in form.
Prediction: Keys in 2
Julia Goerges vs Viktoria Kuzmova
Tracey:
Certainly the Goerges game can go off the rails. But, a solid 4-1 head to head against Kuzmova puts the German in the cat bird seat. Combine that with a solid performance in Adelaide pushing fourth seed Belinda Bencic to two tiebreaks – Goerges successfully starts her Australian Open campaign.
Prediction: Goerges in 2
Yesh:
Goerges plays powerful tennis and can be nearly unbeatable when her serve is on. As long as she consistently keeps her groundstrokes in the court, she should move on after this match.
Prediction: Goerges in 2
Jim:
Julia Goerges rather feels like a player who has underachieved throughout her career and Melbourne Park hasn’t been a particularly happy hunting ground for her in recent years. She hasn’t reached the second week since 2015. But she should feel confident about her chances against Viktoria Kuzmova. The Slovak may have a bright future, but she still has much to work on and Goerges has won four of their five previous meetings, including twice in similar conditions in Auckland.
Prediction: Goerges in 2
Polona Hercog vs Rebecca Peterson
Tracey:
Has Rebecca Peterson had time to address the back injury prompting her Hobart withdrawal? A first round knock out in Auckland followed by the Hobart withdrawal doesn’t bode well from the Swede. Polona Hercog may be a bit rusty as she hasn’t played since the Kremlin Cup in October. I suspect neither woman will light up the courts but Hercog should push out an ailing Peterson.
Prediction: Hercog in 2
Yesh:
Peterson has not done anything to inspire any confidence recently, including her first matches in 2020. Hercog comes into this match cold, but as long as she has prepared she should have the better game of the two players here.
Prediction: Hercog in 3
Jim:
Polona Hercog really struggled in the wake of her loss to Coco Gauff at Wimbledon, but she managed to get back on track towards the end of the season. But this will be her first match of the year. Rebecca Peterson has at least played twice, but she lost first-time out in Auckland and then retired in the first round in Hobart. However, if she is fit, this is a match she should win.
Prediction: Peterson in 3
Kristie Ahn vs Caroline Wozniacki
Tracey:
In her farewell tournament, I doubt there’s much that will prevent Caroline Wozniacki from a strong showing. Certainly Ahn is talented. But so is Wozniacki … and she’s motivated.
Prediction: Wozniacki in 2
Yesh:
Kristie Ahn is a good player who might someday challenge to go deep in Slams. But Wozniacki isn’t struggling at the first hurdle of her final tournament.
Prediction: Wozniacki in 2
Jim:
Caroline Wozniacki may no longer be the player she once was, but the Dane will be determined not to see her career end with a first-round defeat and she is still surely a good enough player to see that particular wish fulfilled. Kristie Ahn has the quality to keep this competitive, but Wozniacki’s defensive skills should be enough to see that she lives to fight another day.
Prediction: Wozniacki in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
Disagree with our Australian Open Day 1 Women’s Predictions? As always, feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.
