There should be plenty of entertaining tennis in store for the fans on day two at the WTA Qatar Open with six first-round matches on the slate in Doha. As ever, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the schedule, including Wang Qiang vs Jessica Pegula. But who will reach the second round?
WTA Qatar Open Day Two Predictions
Elena Rybakina vs Laura Siegemund
Head-to-head: Rybakina 2-0 Siegemund
Elena Rybakina will doubtless have been disappointed by her performance at the Australian Open, with the Kazakh crashing out in the second round at the hands of Fiona Ferro. That continued what has been a broadly disappointing start to the season for the 21-year-old, whose best result so far in 2021 remains her quarterfinal-showing at the Abu Dhabi Open. But she may still have reasons to feel confident heading into this clash with Laura Siegemund.
She has, after all, won both of her previous matches against the German, beating her in 2019 in the second round in Launceston and the quarterfinals in Luxembourg. And although Rybakina hasn’t looked at her best so far in 2021, neither has Siegemund. She did impress in coming through the qualifying in Doha, but she has struggled to contain big hitters in recent years and there are few more powerfully equipped than Rybakina. Expect this to be a relatively comfortable outing for the world #23.
Prediction: Rybakina in 2
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Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Kristyna Pliskova
Head-to-head: first meeting
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has started 2021 in indifferent fashion, although the Russian has not been helped by some tough draws, including coming up against eventual champion Naomi Osaka in the first round at the Australian Open. But she will nonetheless surely be eager to build some momentum at the WTA Qatar Open. She may not have things all her own way up against Kristyna Pliskova, however, with the Czech having impressed in coming through the qualifying without dropping a set.
But Pliskova has not yet claimed a win at tour-level yet this season and it still feels as though she is struggling to live up to the expectations created by her twin sister’s considerable achievements. Her movement, in particular, is a weakness that many higher-ranked opponents have been able to exploit and Pavlyuchenkova’s relatively well-rounded skillset should allow her to cause Pliskova problems in that department. Expect the Russian to prove just about too strong for Pliskova as a result.
Prediction: Pavlyuchenkova in 3
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Belinda Bencic vs Madison Keys
Head-to-head: Keys 1-1 Bencic
There is still time for Madison Keys to fulfil her potential, but it does increasingly feel that the 26-year-old’s body will struggle to stand up to the demands imposed by playing at the highest level. The positive covid-19 test that saw her miss the start of the 2021 season has also not helped matters. Indeed, it is far from certain where her game will be out, with this her first competitive outing since a one-sided loss at the hands of Zhang Shuai in the first round at Roland Garros last season.
Belinda Bencic has been confronting her own injury problems and missed the closing weeks of the 2020 season, but has made a generally assured start to this year. She did lose in the first week at Melbourne Park, falling 2-6 1-6 to Elise Mertens in the third round, but she bounced back to reach the final at the Adelaide International. She was beaten heavily there by Iga Swiatek, but it is nonetheless hard to look past the advantage that match practice will have given her.
Prediction: Bencic in 3
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