We have seen some attritional rallies and matches on the opening day of the second WTA tournament on the red clay of Charleston. Six players have made their way into the second round and Day Two will produce another ten victors to join them.
Last Word On Tennis have previews of all ten matches on Day 2. We have five below and the remaining five in an accompanying piece.
WTA Charleston Day 2 Predictions
Yafan Wang vs Astra Sharma
Head-to-head: First meeting
Wang is having a shocker. The Chinese has won only once in a year and indeed has won only one clay-court match on the main tour in the last two years. Wang does have a perfect record in beating Sharma though and so this is a good opportunity to find some form. Sharma will have been disappointed to lose her last two opening rounds in three sets though and I think she’ll see this as a big chance to progress into a tournament.
Prediction: Sharma in 2
Alycia Parks vs Grace Min
Head-to-head: Min 2-0 Parks
This all-American clash is also a battle of the qualifiers so both players will feel good about their form ahead of this match. However, I really fancy Min to progress here. Firstly, she has won both previous meetings comfortably and also they have both recently played Gabrielle Price and Parks lost that match whereas Min dispatched her with the loss of only four games.
Prediction: Min in 2
Tereza Martincova vs Emma Navarro
Head-to-meeting: First meeting
Martincova is in fairly decent form and on rankings alone this should be a fairly straightforward task against the wild card. However, Navarro has produced big surprises in the opening rounds of her last two events in Charleston, beating Renata Zarazua here last week and Anna-Lena Friedsam in November. Nonetheless, I think Martincova could just sneak through this one with her greater quality.
Prediction: Martincova in 3
Linda Fruhvirtova vs Alize Cornet
Head-to-meeting: First meeting
I can’t think that this will be a match that Cornet will be looking forward to. It is one of those lose-lose situations for her playing a teenage wild card. She will be hoping to get through comfortably enough but the Fruhvirtova sisters are a coming force in the game despite their tender years. Linda Fruhvirtova has yet to win a WTA match in three attempts but surely it is only a matter of time. She is comfortable on the clay having played a lot of exhibitions back home in Czechia during the tennis break. Think Czech may take a set from Cornet but the Frenchwoman should have too much class in the end.
Prediction: Cornet in 2
Christina McHale vs Sara Errani
Head-to-meeting: Errani 5-2 McHale
It is the surface that makes a big difference here. It feels like a lazy stereotype but when an American meets an Italian on clay it really does feel like there is a big advantage to the European. This is balanced a little by the court being in the US but still, the players’ records on the surface demonstrate the difference between them. McHale has a 2-7 win/loss record over the last two years, whereas Errani is 14-14. Whilst the Italian’s record isn’t spectacular the number of matches she has played on clay when compared to McHale shows her confidence on the dirt. When the head-to-head record is taken into account as well (though no meetings since 2017) then Errani is deserving favorite and I expect her to come through in straight sets.
Prediction: Errani in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
