It’s only Monday, but we’re up to Day 3 of the WTA Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati… er, New York City. It should be in Cincinnati, though it’s been moved to Flushing Meadows due to COVID-19. As ever, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for all 14 matches including Madison Keys vs Ons Jabeur, Petra Kvitova vs Marie Bouzkova and Naomi Osaka vs Karolina Muchova. Let’s look at all of the matches on Monday.
WTA Cincinnati Day 3 Predictions
Johanna Konta vs Kirsten Flipkens
Konta is on a two-match losing streak to Marie Bouzkova. She has won four of her five career matches against Flipkens, including two easy victories in their last two meetings. Of course, the Brit is not currently at her top level, but it should be enough to win this match without being bothered too much.
Prediction: Konta in 2
CiCi Bellis vs Aryna Sabalenka
Bellis is looking better and slowly making her comeback from injury. She’s no longer viewed as the next teenage phenom, but maybe that’s better for her. Then again, Sabalenka is the next phenom, and she just has too much power for Bellis to handle for too long.
Prediction: Sabalenka in 3
Maria Sakkari vs Yulia Putintseva
Sakkari is a strong and solid player in good form, as evidenced by her dominant victory over CoCo Gauff in the first round. Putintseva is a bit inconsistent right now, as evidenced by her recent form both this week and in Lexington. If Putintseva brings her top game she can frustrate the Greek and make this tough, but I think Sakkari is just too solid right now to give this match up.
Prediction: Sakkari in 2
Serena Williams vs Arantxa Rus
Rus was very impressive in dismantling Alison Van Uytvanck in the opening round, and Serena definitely looked very vulnerable throughout last week in Lexington. Still, on an American hard court and with the US Open coming up, you just don’t pick against Serena.
Prediction: Williams in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
