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, Madison Brengle vs Lauren Davis, and Amanda Anisimova vs Magda Linette.
WTA Charleston Day 1 Predictions
Christina McHale vs Ajla Tomljanovic
Both of these players have a ton of talent and a ton of potential. Neither ever seems to really string enough top-level matches together to make a serious impact on tour. Right now, Tomljanovic appears to be playing better more often than McHale. I guess going on that, it makes sense to take the Aussie to win.
Prediction: Tomljanovic in 3
Zarina Diyas vs Natalia Vikhlyantseva
Diyas is improving as her career goes on, and these past few years she has shown herself capable of playing impressive matches. Putting them together for a whole tournament is still a struggle, but that’s the next step. She has the right draw to make a good run here, and a very winnable first-round matchup is a good start.
Prediction: Diyas in 2
Desirae Krawczyk vs Veronika Kudermetova
This is the type of match that dreams are made of. Krawzcyk is currently ranked #24 in the world in doubles… and hasn’t played a singles match since 2017. The California native has a career-high singles ranking of World #752. Her career-best singles result? She reached the quarterfinals of an ITF 10K event (the lowest professional level that offers ranking points). It’s no fun predicting against her, because this is the upset match everyone dreams of, but there’s also zero reason not to think this will be an easy Kudermetova win.
Prediction: Kudermetova in 2
Andrea Petkovic vs Yulia Putintseva
Once upon a time, Andrea Petkovic was a Top 10 player. That time was almost a decade ago now. While Putintseva never seems to do anything superlative on court, she does everything well. She can be frustrating to play against with her all-court game, and when needed she has surprising power. The Kazakh has the potential to make straightforward matches troublesome for herself, but she’ll get the win.
Prediction: Putintseva in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
