With 13 first-round matches on the schedule on day two at the WTA Cleveland Championships, there should be plenty of entertaining tennis in Ohio. As ever, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match, including Lauren Davis vs Anett Kontaveit and Daria Kasatkina vs Kaja Juvan. But who will book their place in the second round?
WTA Cleveland Day 2 Predictions
Emina Bektas vs Magda Linette
Head-to-head: first meeting
Emina Bektas plays more doubles than she does singles, but the 28-year-old American, who might fairly be described as a journeywoman, has enjoyed some good results in the latter discipline of late. She came through the qualifying in San Jose, beating Katie Volynets and Ellen Perez, and she has backed that up by negotiating the qualifying draw at the WTA Cleveland Championships as well with wins over Anna Roggenburk and Linda Fruhvirtova.
She will be hoping to go one better than she did in San Jose, however, having lost there in the first round of the main draw to Caroline Garcia. Unfortunately for the American that looks like something of a long shot. Magda Linette may not be having a particularly memorable season, but she is a cut above the sort of opposition that Bektas usually faces. The Pole is vulnerable to the occasional off-day, but if she avoids that she should have the beating of Bektas.
Prediction: Linette in 2
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Maria Mateas vs Polona Hercog
Head-to-head: first meeting
This is another match at the WTA Cleveland Championships that pits two players with vastly different levels of experience against each other. Whilst Polona Hercog has won three tour-level titles, as well as 430 matches, and been ranked as high as world #35, Mateas has no titles to her name, has not yet broken into the top 250 and has 301 fewer match wins. But this has not been a productive year for Hercog with wins having proven hard to come by.
She did reach the third round at the French Open and win an ITF-event in Portugal, but there have been few other achievements for the Slovenian to celebrate in 2021. Mateas has hardly been pulling up any trees either, however, with the American having made just one quarterfinal – at any level – so far this season. She will have the boost of playing on home soil on a comparatively big stage. But there is a talent gap here and it does not favour Mateas.
Prediction: Hercog in 3
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Ludmilla Samsonova vs Bethanie Mattek Sands
Head-to-head: first meeting
Bethanie Mattek Sands rarely fails to entertain when she steps on to court, but the American has been handed a tough first-round draw here. Whilst she has not played in singles since losing in the first round of qualifying in Stuttgart in mid-April, Ludmilla Samsonova has enjoyed a career-best season, highlighted by her run to the title in Berlin and to the fourth round at Wimbledon. She has cooled off since then, but performed creditably in Montreal and Cincinnati, upsetting 12th seed Elena Rybakina at the former event. With Mattek Sands very much a doubles specialist at this point in her career, this should be a comfortable day at the office for the Russian.
Prediction: Samsonova in 2
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Sara Sorribes Tormo vs Alexa Glatch
Head-to-head: first match
Sara Sorribes Tormo won her first tour-level title earlier this season in Guadalajara and it would not be much of a surprise to see her add to that at the WTA Cleveland Championships. The Spaniard has struggled to find her best tennis at times this season, but she has been excellent for the most part. She stunned Ashleigh Barty in the first round at the Tokyo Olympics and backed that up with an impressive run to the quarterfinals in Montreal.
Alexa Glatch has played the majority of her tennis this season in the comparatively humble environments of the ITF Tour. But she looked sharp in the qualifying in Cleveland, scoring straight-sets wins over Hsu Chieh-yu and Ena Shibahara to reach the main draw. However, like several of the other players to have qualified into the main draw, it would be a major shock if she goes on to reach the second round. There is a reason that there are over 250 places between this pair in the rankings.
Prediction: Sorribes Tormo in 2
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Shelby Rogers vs Katerina Siniakova
Head-to-head: Siniakova 2-0 Rogers
Shelby Rogers often saves her best tennis for the biggest stage, but if the American is warming up for a big run at the US Open there has been little sign of it. Her only win since the WTA Tour arrived in North America came via Danielle Collins’ retirement in the first round in Cincinnati and Rogers proved unable to take advantage of that good fortune, losing 6-7 1-6 in the last 32 to Belinda Bencic. Katerina Siniakova, in contrast, has impressed for the most part in recent weeks. She also beat Rogers in both of their previous matches, although they have not played since 2017. This may well go the distance, but if winning is a habit it is not one that Rogers has been in.
Prediction: Siniakova in 3
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