With 16 matches on the slate, including both first and second round action, there should be plenty of entertaining tennis on day two at the WTA Montreal Open. As ever, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for all 16 matches, including Sorana Cirstea vs Victoria Azarenka, Bianca Andreescu vs Harriet Dart, and Petra Kvitova vs Fiona Ferro. But who will advance and who will fall to defeat?
WTA Montreal Day 2 Predictions
Anett Kontaveit vs Jessica Pegula
Head-to-head: first meeting
After her exceptional start to the season, Jessica Pegula will no doubt be disappointed by her recent run of results. She lost in the third round at the French Open, the second round at Wimbledon and in the first round at the Tokyo Olympics, with her momentum having stalled as a result. But she has the chance to put that right over the coming weeks in familiar conditions. But she has not had much luck with her draw in Montreal.
There is just one place between her and Anett Kontaveit in the WTA rankings and there looks to be about that little between the pair. The Estonian too has not been in particularly form of late, having lost in the first round at Wimbledon and the Olympics. But she does have a better record than Pegula in North American conditions, with the relatively gritty surfaces typically allowing her the chance to unwind her powerful groundstrokes and she also has a slightly higher ceiling than Pegula.
Prediction: Kontaveit in 3
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Katerina Siniakova vs Garbine Muguruza
Head-to-head: Siniakova 1-1 Muguruza
Garbine Muguruza looked to be in good position to win a medal at the Tokyo Olympics having stormed into the quarterfinals without dropping a set. But she came unstuck there, losing 5-7 1-6 to Elena Rybakina to leave the Japanese capital empty handed. It will be interesting to see how effectively she is able to bounce back from that disappointment this week at the WTA Montreal Open. But she will have little time to get back into the swing of things up against Katerina Siniakova.
The Czech won their last match in Miami in 2018 and her willingness to take big cuts at the ball and come forward ensures that she is invariably a dangerous opponent. She demonstrated as much in the first round by hammering Jelena Ostapenko for the loss of only four games. But Muguruza is a more consistent and versatile player than the Latvian, with her down the line shots particularly effective. Expect a close contest, but for the Spaniard to have just about enough to reach the third round.
Prediction: Muguruza in 3
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Elena Rybakina vs Ludmilla Samsonova
Head-to-head: first meeting
Rybakina will surely consider herself unlucky to have left the Tokyo Olympics without a medal having played some excellent tennis in the Japanese capital. She did make a winning return to action last time out in San Jose, beating Claire Liu in the round of 16 before losing 6-7 6-7 to eventual champion Danielle Collins in the quarterfinals. Her performances in California were sufficiently encouraging to suggest that she can go deep here, but the Kazakh has been handed a potentially tough opening assignment.
Ludmilla Samsonova was in career-best form on the grass, winning her first tour-level title at the WTA Berlin Grass Court Championships and reaching the fourth round at the All England Club. She has played just one match since, however, losing in straight sets to the in-form Zheng Qinwen in the first round in Palermo. That does not inspire great confidence in her chances against Rybakina. Expect the 12th seed to have too much for Samsonova here.
Prediction: Rybakina in 2
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Danielle Collins vs Jil Teichmann
Head-to-head: Teichmann 1-0 Collins
Collins enjoyed one of the best weeks of her career last time out in San Jose, battling through the draw with wins over Shelby Rogers, Sloane Stephens, Rybakina, Ana Konjuh and Daria Kasatkina to win her second title at WTA Tour-level. She will doubtless be hoping to back that up with a deep run at the WTA Montreal Open, but will have to find a way past Jil Teichmann if she is to reach the second round which may prove easier said than done.
The Swiss has a good record on North American hard courts and beat Collins in straight sets in their only previous meeting, which came last season in the first round in ‘Cincinnati’. Teichmann has been struggling for form and fitness of late, however, and has been out of action since withdrawing from the WTA Palermo Open in the third week of July. Provided Collins has recovered from her exertions in San Jose, expect the American to be the player to reach the second round.
Prediction: Collins in 2
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