Day 1 of the WTA Volvo Car Open in Charleston, South Carolina kicks off on Monday. This 64-player tournament is the biggest annual event on clay in the United States. Plenty of Americans will be searching for glory, as will the rest of the tour. There are 14 matches on Monday, and we predict all of them, between four separate articles. In addition to this article, the other three feature Caty McNally vs Elena Rybakina, Andrea Petkovic vs Yulia Putintseva, and Amanda Anisimova vs Magda Linette.
WTA Charleston Day 1 Predictions
Paula Badosa vs Varvara Gracheva
Neither player has been great those year, though Badosa has been better. More importantly for looking at this match, Badosa is coming off an impressive fourth-round showing at last year’s French Open. She hasn’t played on the clay in a few months, but that tells us more than enough about who we should expect to perform better on the dirt right now.
Prediction: Badosa in 2
Asia Muhammad vs Storm Sanders
Muhammad is actually ranked #37 in the world… in doubles. The 30-year-old American has never cracked the Top 100 in singles. Sanders, meanwhile, has been in the best form of her career since the pandemic hiatus. Advantage to the Aussie.
Prediction: Sanders in 2
Magdalena Frech vs Grace Min
No disrespect to either of these players, but this is not a match worthy of the main draw of an event like this. Neither player is inside the Top 150. While Min has been playing well recently, it’s in ITF level tournaments. Frech, at least, is playing decent tennis in Tour-level and Challenger-equivalent matches.
Prediction: Frech in 3
Madison Brengle vs Lauren Davis
Two Americans duel for a spot in the second round in this match. Davis has been playing somewhat better recently, though I don’t particularly trust either player on clay. In the end, Davis has had some more impressive results these past few months. Without much more to separate these two, I have to defer to that as the tiebreaker.
Prediction: Davis in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
