On day two at the St Petersburg Ladies Trophy there are a number of interesting matches on the slate and we here at LWOT are offering predictions across the board, including for fifth seed Marketa Vondrousova’s clash with Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic. But who will book their place in the second round in Russia’s second city?
St Petersburg Ladies Trophy Day Two Predictions
Daria Kasatkina vs Ekaterina Alexandrova
Head-to-head: Kasatkina 1-0 Alexandrova
Daria Kasatkina’s fall from grace may not be the most spectacular in recent tennis history (see Jack Sock), but the Russian has certainly lost her way. She has tumbled to 71st in the rankings, down 61 places from her career high, and has found wins hard to come by on the WTA Tour. Her most recent outing saw her lose comprehensively to Madison Keys in the first round at the Australian Open. Ekaterina Alexandrova, in contrast, arrives at the St Petersburg Ladies Trophy in a rich vein of form.
She won the title at the Shenzhen Open before reaching the third round at the Australian Open, although she will surely be disappointed by the manner of her 1-6 2-6 loss there to Petra Kvitova. Alexandrova also lost her only previous meeting with Kasatkina, which came last year in Beijing, in straight-sets, which rather suggests she will not have things all her own way in this one. Nonetheless, she is the form player and should have enough to see off her compatriot’s challenge.
Prediction: Alexandrova in 3
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Viktoria Kuzmova vs Oceane Dodin
Head-to-head: first meeting
Viktoria Kuzmova arrives in St Petersburg a player in need of a win, with her only victory in singles so far this year coming in the first round at the Hobart International. But she faces a player who should be full of confidence in Oceane Dodin. After a bright start to her career, the Frenchwoman has struggled badly of late, but she played some fine tennis to come through the qualifying in St Petersburg, upsetting top seed Fiona Ferro to secure her place in the main draw. If she can maintain that level against Kuzmova, she should be able to pull off another big win.
Prediction: Dodin in 3
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Svetlana Kuznetsova vs Jennifer Brady
Head-to-head: first meeting
Jennifer Brady made a great start to 2020, beating world #1 Ashleigh Barty at the Brisbane International en route to the quarterfinals. But she was brought crashing back down to earth at the Australian Open, where she lost 6-7 1-6 to Simona Halep in the first round. And she looks set for a difficult day at the office up against the veteran Svetlana Kuznetsova, who proved her enduring quality in upsetting 15th seed Marketa Vondrousova in the first round at the Australian Open.
That said, her win over Vondrousova was followed by a heavy defeat at the hands of Camila Giorgi, in which she won just four games. It is clear then that the Russian lacks the endurance she once possessed, but she should be fresh and fired up when she takes on Brady, with the crowd certain to play their part in supporting her. This could well be a close battle, but Kuznetsova’s experience and home-court advantage should give the edge.
Prediction: Kuznetsova in 3
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