Eight singles matches are on the schedule for Day 3 of the 2021 WTA Belgrade Ladies Open. Five seeds still remain in the tournament as these women look for form and ranking points heading into the end of the season. Who will move on to the quarterfinals? We predict all eight matches, split between two articles.
WTA Belgrade Day 3 Predictions
Varvara Gracheva vs Kristyna Pliskova
This should be the best match of the day. Gracheva is a Top 100 player, and she will battle a recent Top 50 player (whose ranking has declined since the pandemic), a matchup far better than a tournament this small deserves–at least this early in the event. Pliskova is slowly and steadily improving constantly, while Gracheva is still learning to control her incredible talent. This should be a fun one, and the winner should go deep in this event.
Prediction: Pliskova in 3
Rebecca Sramkova vs Jaqueline Cristian
Sramkova took out Petra Kvitova in Prague two weeks ago, and she’s likely still flying high from that win. Other than that, though, she’s still played mostly ITFs this year–and hasn’t been impressive in them. Then again, a win over Kvitova is far, far better than anything Cristian has done recently either, so I’ll stick with the Slovakian.
Prediction: Sramkova in 3
Anna Blinkova vs Susan Bandecchi
Blinkova is the top seed here and she’s in pretty solid form recently, so she is likely the favorite for the whole tournament. Bandecchi looked solid in an upset of Govortsova in the opening round, but it’s another step up to take out Blinkova.
Prediction: Blinkova in 2
Olga Danilovic vs Arantxa Rus
Rus is seeded second here but isn’t significantly better than her opponent. Yes, they’re separated by 60 ranking spots, but the difference between World #80 and #140 is much smaller than the difference between #20 and #80. Before this week, Rus had not won a match since Bol back in June, while Danilovic has reached two consecutive quarterfinals. I think the Serbian can make it a third.
Prediction: Danilovic in 3
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