With four second-round matches on the slate, there should be plenty of entertaining tennis on day three at the WTA Palermo Open. As always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the schedule. But who will book their place in the quarterfinals in Sicily?
WTA Palermo Day 3 Predictions
Elena Gabriela Ruse vs Jil Teichmann
Head-to-head: Ruse 1-0 Teichmann
Jil Teichmann is not one of the WTA Tour’s more consistent performers – or not yet at any rate – but the Swiss is a very dangerous opponent when she is on song. She showed as much in the first round at the WTA Palermo Open, rallying from a set down to record an ultimately comfortable victory over the Spaniard Marina Bassols Ribera. However, she will no doubt want to avoid another slow start, particularly because she lost to Elena-Gabriela Ruse only two weeks ago in the first round in Hamburg.
That was one of several impressive victories the Romanian recorded en route to winning the title in Hamburg and she has maintained that fine form so far in Palermo, easing through the qualifying before dismantling Mandy Minella in the first round. The match this pair played in Hamburg was close enough to suggest that this one will be too, but it is hard to pick against Ruse when she is in such extraordinarily good form. Expect the Romanian to have just about enough to get over the line once again.
Prediction: Ruse in 3
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Oceane Dodin vs Vitalia Diatchenko
Head-to-head: first meeting
This has the makings of an entertaining clash with both Oceane Dodin and Vitalia Diatchenko at their best when playing on the front foot. That is particularly true of the Frenchwoman Dodin. She was at her attacking best in the first round, dismissing Alexandra Dulgheru for the loss of only five games. If she can maintain that level in the second round, she will take some stopping. But Diatchenko too looked sharp in her opener, beating Julia Grabher 6-3 7-6.
However, there are some reasons to be concerned after that match for the Russian. She hit nine double faults and won just 40% of the points behind her second serve. Had Grabher been more clinical (she converted just four of her 11 break points) the match may well have gone the distance and perhaps even ended in a different result. After Dodin’s ruthless first-round performance, that does not bode well for Diatchenko’s chances in this match.
Prediction: Dodin in 2
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Lucia Bronzetti vs Grace Min
Head-to-head: first meeting
Grace Min made light of the difficulty in changing between a hard and a clay court in the first round, beating Laura Arruabarrena 6-3 6-4 to reach the second round at the WTA Palermo Open. But she may face more resistance up against the in-form Lucia Bronzetti, who appears to be the latest Italian player to be riding a wave of success and has not lost before the quarterfinals at any event since Cristiana Ferrando beat her in the first round at an ITF-event in the last week of May.
Since then she has reached two finals, as well as a semifinal and two quarterfinals, including at the WTA Tour-level Lausanne Open. She maintained that excellent form with a comprehensive 6-4 6-1 win over fifth seed Viktoria Tomova in her opener in Palermo and it is hard to see her streak of quarterfinal-finishes being ended here. Bronzetti may have less experience than Min, but she is clearly more at home on the clay than the American. She should have the edge here.
Prediction: Bronzetti in 2
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Jaqueline Cristian vs Zheng Qinwen
Head-to-head: Cristian 1-0 Zheng
Bronzetti is not the only player who arrived at the WTA Palermo Open in fine form. Zheng Qinwen has been winning far more often than she has been losing of late, with the Chinese teenager reaching back-to-back semifinals at ITF events in Montpellier and Contrexeville before scoring dominant wins over Louisa Chirico and Melania Delai to secure her spot in the main draw in Palermo. She faced a tough opening round test against Ludmilla Samsonova, but thrashed the second seed 6-2 6-2.
She did lose her only previous match against Jaqueline Cristian, however, winning just five games when the pair met two years ago in Rome. The Romanian has been playing some good tennis in her own right as well, beating home hope Nuria Brancaccio from a set down in her opener in Palermo. Still, it would surely be an error to put much stock in a match this pair contested when Zheng was just 16 and there is no doubt that it is the Chinese who has been in better form.
Prediction: Zheng in 2
Main photo from Getty Images.
