With the grass-court season now well underway and Wimbledon looming large on the horizon, there should be no shortage of motivation for the field at the WTA Berlin Open. A number of star names are set to take to the court on day two in the German capital and, as ever, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the schedule, including Garbine Muguruza vs Sorana Cirstea. But who will advance?
WTA Berlin Open Day 2 Predictions
Marketa Vondrousova vs Ludmilla Samsonova
Head-to-head: first meeting
At the French Open, Marketa Vondrousova lost at the start of the second week, unable to take advantage of an open draw. It was a similar story for the Czech at the Australian Open. That will surely be a considerable disappointment for a player of her quality, particularly when some of her peers have been enjoying such standout successes. Unfortunately, it is something she may well struggle to put right in the coming weeks.
She has not won a match at Wimbledon in three previous attempts and has, in fact, won only one match on a grass court anywhere. However, she might just have the edge here. Ludmilla Samsonova also prefers the clay and is still finding her feet on the WTA Tour, with most of her previous success having come at ITF-level. Vondrousova’s greater variety and the easy power she can generate with her forehand should see her safely into the second round.
Prediction: Vondrousova in 2
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Petra Martic vs Asia Muhammad
Head-to-head: first meeting
Petra Martic, after some fine play in the preceding weeks including a run to the semifinals in Rome, failed to deliver at the French Open, losing to Camila Giorgi in the first round in three sets. That will doubtless have been a blow to the Croatian, who is at her best on the terre battue, but she has sufficient grass-court pedigree to suggest that she can bounce back in the coming weeks. That being said, this looks to have the makings of a difficult first-round test.
Asia Muhammad impressed in coming through the qualifying with wins over Kaja Juvan and Stefanie Voegele and her six WTA doubles titles illustrates that she knows how to play tennis in the forecourt. Still, Martic does not lack touch herself and her groundstrokes are that much more reliable and repeatable than Muhammad’s. In essence, there is a reason that Martic has been ranked inside the world’s top 20 whilst the American has never breached the top 100.
Prediction: Martic in 3
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Andrea Petkovic vs Victoria Azarenka
Head-to-head: Azarenka 2-1 Petkovic
In terms of star wattage, this is surely the match of day two at the WTA Berlin Open. Victoria Azarenka has not been at her best lately, despite a run to the fourth round at the French Open, with the Belarusian having struggled with injuries for much of this season. But when she is on song, there are few opponents more formidable than the 31-year-old and whilst grass may not be her preferred surface, but she can certainly play on it, having twice reached the semifinals at Wimbledon.
Andrea Petkovic does not have quite the same sort of grass-court pedigree. The German, once ranked as high as world #9, has never reached the second week at Wimbledon – a feat she has achieved at the other three Majors – and she seems to have struggled to adapt her counterpunching game to the surface. A player of her quality can never be discounted, but there is little in her history or her recent results to suggest that she will upset Azarenka here.
Prediction: Azarenka in 2
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Elena Rybakina vs Shelby Rogers
Head-to-head: Rogers 1-0 Rybakina
It will be interesting to see where Elena Rybakina’s game and mind are at the WTA Berlin Open. The Kazakh came to within a whisker of reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal at the French Open, but lost 7-6 2-6 7-9 to eventual finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The 21-year-old will surely have another chance at a Major, she is after all just 21 and women’s singles draws have largely been wide open for some years now. But it is still a defeat that will take some recovering from.
Shelby Rogers should be mentally fresher having lost in the first round at the French Open, which is probably about the only positive to be drawn from her clay-court season. She has also enjoyed relatively little success on the grass so far in her career with her best showing at Wimbledon a run to the third round in 2017. If Rybakina can play her best tennis, or something close to it, she should have the beating of the out-of-form Rogers.
Prediction: Rybakina in 3
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