With the clay-court season drawing to an end, every player in the field at the WTA Palermo Open will no doubt be determined to get a few more match wins under their belt on their preferred surface. On day one in Sicily, there are eight first-round matches on the slate and, as always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match, including Zheng Qinwen vs Ludmilla Samsonova. But who will secure their spot in the second round?
WTA Palermo Day 1 Predictions
Oceane Dodin vs Alexandra Dulgheru
Head-to-head: Dulgheru 1-0 Dodin
Oceane Dodin played some good tennis on her last trip to the WTA Palermo Open, reaching the second round as a lucky loser. She returns to Sicily as the sixth seed and will surely have high hopes of putting together a deep run in Sicily. She has played well enough in recent weeks to suggest that she can make an impact, having reached back-to-back quarterfinals at ITF-level in Montpellier and Contrexeville, losing to Zheng on both occasions.
Alexandra Dulgheru, meanwhile, is looking to snap a three-match losing streak that saw her lose in the first round of qualifying at Wimbledon and in her opener last time out in Lausanne. She did beat Dodin in their only previous meeting, but that came back in 2015 when the Frenchwoman was just 18. The Romanian does not lack quality, she has been ranked as high as world #26 after all, but she is not the force she once was and Dodin’s power, particularly on serve, should see her into the second round.
Prediction: Dodin in 2
Marina Bassols Ribera vs Jil Teichmann
Head-to-head: first meeting
There may be a gulf between them in the rankings, but this does not look like being a straightforward proposition for Jil Teichmann. For one thing, the Swiss is badly in need of some wins, having lost all three matches she has played since returning from injury at Wimbledon. More concerning still is that she has won just one set in the process. For another, Marina Bassols Ribera will doubtless be full of confidence after successfully coming through the qualifying.
The Spaniard is undeniably short of experience, but she did not look it in beating Federica Bilardo and Martina Di Giuseppe to reach the main draw at the WTA Palermo Open. Still, Teichmann is a cut above both Bilardo and Di Giuseppe and there were some encouraging signs in the Swiss’ last match, even if did end in a three-set defeat. If she can find a way to bring her forehand into play, expect Teichmann to get back to winning ways at Bassols Ribera’s expense.
Prediction: Teichmann in 3
Leonie Kung vs Natalia Vikhlyantseva
Head-to-head: first meeting
This may be the first meeting between Leonie Kung and Natalia Vikhlyantseva, but with both very much closer to the start of their careers than the end, it seems reasonable to assume that it will not be the last. But it is surely the Russian who comes into this match as the favourite. She impressed last time out in reaching the quarterfinals at the WTA Lausanne Open, scoring creditable wins over Katerina Zavatska and Jasmine Paolini. Kung, in contrast, lost in the first round in Prague. Nor is she known for her clay-court prowess – her win over Daria Lopatetska in the first round in Bastad was her first of the season on the surface.
Prediction: Vikhlyantseva in 2
Giulia Gatto-Monticone vs Madison Inglis
Head-to-head: first meeting
Both Giulia Gatto-Monticone and Maddison Inglis appear to have decided that a brief interlude on hard courts was all they were after. Both lost in the first round in Prague last week – the Italian to Greet Minnen and the Australian to Tereza Smitkova – and are now back on the clay at the WTA Palermo Open. There looks to be little between them on paper, with this set to be a close contest as a result although perhaps not one particularly rich in quality.
Neither has been in sparkling form of late, with Inglis on the comeback trail after injury ruled her out between February and June. Gatto-Monticone has played a full schedule this year, but with relatively little reward. Her recent run of results has been particularly disappointing, with the Italian having failed to advance past the second round at any level since March. That does not inspire much confidence in her chances here.
Prediction: Inglis in 3
