Day 2 of Wimbledon is one of the two busiest days in tennis. 64 women will compete in 32 matches to move on to the second round. We here at LWOT will be predicting all of them for you, split between eight articles. In addition to this article, the other seven feature Barbora Krejcikova vs Clara Tauson, Serena Williams vs Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Victoria Azarenka vs Kateryna Kozlova, Angelique Kerber vs Nina Stojanovic, Coco Gauff vs Francesca Jones, Jelena Ostapenko vs Leylah Annie Fernandez, and Ashleigh Barty vs Carla Suarez Navarro. Predicting these matches today are Jakub Bobro, Andrew Watson, and Yesh Ginsburg.
Wimbledon Day 2 Women’s Predictions
Lesia Tsurenko vs Yulia Putintseva
Yesh:
Tsurenko might be able to win this matchup on her best day, but she doesn’t have her best days very often any more. Putintseva is able to throw away matches she should win, but she should win this one.
Prediction: Putintseva in 3
Jakub:
Not much is expected of Putintseva at Wimbledon, or grass in general, as she lost her only grass match this year to Madison Brengle in straight sets and has never made it past the second round at Wimbledon. Tsurenko has not done much better, reaching one third round, but the Ukrainian does have the momentum of wins over Gabriela Talaba, Tara Moore, and Yafan Wang in qualifying.
Prediction: Tsurenko in 3
Andrew:
Both of these players have played only sporadically over the last few months so it may be a case of who turns up fittest and most prepared on the day. I will give the call to Putintseva simply because she is the better player.
Prediction: Putintseva in 2
Sorana Cirstea vs Samantha Murray Sharan
Yesh:
Cirstea prefers the clay, but she’s just a much, much better player here. Not even the home crowd can keep Murray Sharan in it.
Prediction: Cirstea in 2
Jakub:
Cirstea, a very experienced player, had a renaissance on clay, winning Istanbul, reaching the final of Strasbourg, and Round of 16 at French Open. On grass, however, she has only won one match since 2017. Murray Sharan is a wild card who is winless since October 2020, so the Romanian has a good chance of breaking her grass losing streak.
Prediction: Cirstea in 2
Andrew:
A big part of me wants to predict Murray Sharan as a sentimental vote because of the interview I conducted with her in a previous Last Word on Tennis Podcast in 2020 but in reality there is a gulf in class to bridge here. Cirstea did really well in Paris and will want to back that up.
Prediction: Cirstea in 2
Belinda Bencic vs Kaja Juvan
Yesh:
It’s easy to forget that Bencic is one of the best players in the world because of how often she drops matches that she should win. She is one of the best players in the world, and should be able to finish the rallies far better than her opponent.
Prediction: Bencic in 2
Jakub:
The 24-year-old Bencic is yet to deliver on the promise she showed as a teenager, but she is coming into Wimbledon in decent form, reaching the final of Berlin. Bencic has reached the Round of 16 twice, and she will be looking to do it again. Standing in her way is 2017 Junior Wimbledon Doubles champion, Kaja Juvan. The young Slovenian did well at Wimbledon in 2019, qualifying and reaching the second round, where Juvan won a set against Serena Williams.
Prediction: Bencic in 2
Andrew:
This looks a mouth-watering encounter. Expect to see Juvan continue to improve over the next couple of years but Bencic is in good enough form to win this one in the opening round.
Prediction: Bencic in 3
Bianca Andreescu vs Alize Cornet
Yesh:
Andreescu almost never loses when she’s healthy. Unfortunately for her, she’s also almost never fully healthy. She was hurt at the French Open, which cost her, and she has limited experience on grass courts. Still, she’ll win if she’s healthy.
Prediction: Andreescu in 2
Jakub:
A re-match of the second round match from Berlin, which Cornet won in two tight sets, this is a difficult opener for Andreescu. Though the 21-year-old had decent results in Wimbledon qualifying before her meteoric rise in 2019, Andreescu lacks main draw experience at SW19, losing her 2017 debut. For Cornet, this will be her 14th appearance at Wimbledon, though she has not won a match there since 2016.
Prediction: Andreescu in 3
Andrew:
The 2019 US Open Champion is not having a good time of it at the moment. Where in 2019 she had injury difficulties but was able to play through them and win, she hasn’t looked the same in 2021. Cornet is an experienced and quality player so I expect her to give the Canadian real problems and I will go for the Frenchwoman to come out on top.
Prediction: Cornet in 3
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