The WTA Tour takes to the clay in earnest this week, starting with tournaments in Charleston and Bogota. The Volvo Open features more household names, but there are some talented clay courters in action in Columbia as well. Who moves on to Day 3 is the question. As ever, we try and giver you the answer in our WTA Bogota Day 2 predictions. We also predict the other Day 2 matches.
WTA Bogota Day 2 Predictions
Giulia Gatto-Monticone vs Astra Sharma
Head-to-head: 2 – 0 Gatto-Monticone
On paper this is a close match. there are just 43 ranking spots separating the two at the moment. However, Astra Sharma has played far fewer tour-level clay court matches than Giulia Gatto-Monticone has. The Australian had a good run on the surface in 2019, but the inexperience on the red dirt will be a telling factor.
Gatto-Monticone has played far more on the clay by way of comparison. She also beat Sharma twice last year on hard courts which is the Australian’s preferred surface. Gatto-Monticone also had to come through qualifying for this tournament. That gives her the added advantage of being used to the courts. Given those results last year and the Italian’s greater experience on the surface, she should make it a third win in a row in Bogota.
Prediction: Gatto-Monticone in 3
Lara Arruabarrena vs Jessica Plazas
Head-to-head: First meeting
It’s hard to find out much about Jessica Plazas ahead of this match. The Columbian failed to qualify for this event in 2019. She is also on a seven match losing streak in ITF and WTA events and is ranked just inside the top 1000 in the world. She faces a more than competent clay courter in Lara Arruabarrena. The Spaniard won this tournament in 2012 and won the ITF version of it in 2014. She has fallen of her best in recent years, but will surely be confident of a return to form in a tournament she clearly enjoys.
Given the gulf in rankings and tour level experience, this shouldn’t be close. If Plazas had the advantage of matches on the courts of Bogota under her belt I may have given her a chance at an upset. However, as a wild card she doesn’t have that luxury. As such, expect Arruabarrena to use her greater experience and ability to put the young Columbian away quickly in this match.
Prediction: Arruabarrena in 2
Sachia Vickery vs Maria Camila Osorio Serrano
Head-to-head: First meeting
This one should be tight. Just two ranking spots separate Sachia Vickery and Maria Serrano going into this match. The American is a phenomenal athlete with a potent forehand and can be very dangerous on her day. She is also a respectable clay court player. She doesn’t have much WTA Tour experience, but has looked promising on occasion. However, at 25 it has to be asked whether she will find the consistency needed to make serious inroads in the women’s game.
Conversely, Maria Serrano is a young and talented Columbian junior. She won the junior US Open in 2019 and also went 17-5 that year on clay in ITF and Challenger events. She is yet to make a breakthrough on the WTA Tour, but her recent qualification for WTA Monterrey shows that she has serious ability. Given how close this is on paper, I’m going to back the younger talent with the home court advantage to win in a tight one.
Prediction: Serrano in 3
Leonie Kung vs Tereza Martincova
Head-to-head: 1 – 0 Martincova
Tereza Martincova will come into this tournament in high spirits. The Czech broke into the top 100 for the first time on the back of some strong hard court results in the first quarter of this year. She now sits at #98 and will be keen to keep climbing with another good showing here. Clay has never been her strongest surface, but she did go 9-4 on the red dirt last year.
Her first opponent in Bogota is Leonie Kung. The swiss is still young and inexperienced by tour standards. However, at 23 she is perhaps a late bloomer on the women’s tour and her window of opportunity to start making inroads is shrinking. Kung isn’t great on clay, with an 8-13 record so far in ITF events or higher. Given Martincova’s form, the Czech should move on relatively comfortably here.
Prediction: Martincova in 2
Sara Sorribes Tormo vs Sara Errani
Head-to-head: 3 – 0 Errani
Sara Sorribes Tormo was nearly impossible to get passed on hard courts in the first quarter of this year, You have to think she will be even tougher to break through on the slower red dirt. The Spaniard’s defense is amongst the best on the tour and she has shown she is more than happy to grind out marathon wins night after night if she needs to. She had a strong showing in Miami and has lifted a first WTA title this year in Guadalajara. She is surely one of the favorite here in Bogota given her fine form so far in 2021.
Hoping to stop here is Sara Errani. The Italian is no longer the player she once was. Her ever-troublesome serve has only worsened in recent months and she lacks the power to dominate opponents. However, she is still capable of moments of magic and is always a threat on the clay. Sorribes Tormo may well be exhausted from her incredible efforts on hard courts so far this year. That is the only thing that could get in the way of what will otherwise be a routine win for the Spaniard. The head -to-head is heavily in favour of the Italian, but Sorribes Tormo isn’t the same player she was 12 months ago. Take her to move on here.
Prediction: Sorribes Tormo in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
