Main draw action begins on Monday at the inaugural WTA Transylvania Open in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Simona Halep and Emma Raducanu are the star attractions this week, we will have to wait a little longer to see them in action. There’s still some quality tennis to look forward to on Day 1. Ana Bogdan will be one of the key local hopes this week, the Romanian begins her campaign against a struggling Ivana Jorovic. We also predict the rest of the day’s matches in a separate article
WTA Transylvania Open Day 1 Predictions
Jil Teichmann vs Anastasia Gasanova
H2H: First meeting.
Anastasia Gasanova had little trouble advancing through the qualifying draw. The Russian beat a pair of local wild cards ranked outside the top 1000 dropping a combined two games. Gasanova faces a far greater test in her main draw opener against the fourth seeded Jil Teichmann. The Swiss player is having her best season on tour, her hard court performances have improved significantly as she has already reached five tour level quarterfinals on hard courts this season. The world #39 will be in action for the first time since a disappointing opening round loss to Irina-Camelia Begu in Indian Wells, expect her to return to winners list here with a fairly comfortable victory.
Prediction: Teichmann in 2
Anhelina Kalinina vs Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove
H2H: Pattinama Kerkhove 2-0
Anhelina Kalinina arrives in Cluj-Napoca at a career high ranking of #57. The 24-year-old has a 38/12 win/loss record to her name in 2021, the vast majority of her success has been on clay and at the ITF level. The Ukrainian did have one of her better wins on a hard court last week in St. Petersburg where she beat Daria Kasatkina in straight sets before succumbing to eventual runner-up Ekaterina Alexandrova in straight sets. Another rare tour level hard court win should be manageable here for Kalinina against Pattinama Kerkhove. The Dutch player entered this event in dismal form having lost seven of her last nine matches. Kalinina should be far too solid on this occasion, despite twice losing to Pattinama Kerkhove as a teenager.
Prediction: Kalinina in 2
Anna Bondar vs Mona Barthel
H2H: First meeting.
Anna Bondar cruised though a relatively weak qualifying field in Cluj-Napoca. The Hungarian dropped a combined five games through straight set victories over Angelina Gabueva and Jana Fett. Bondar currently sits at a career high ranking of #131, thanks mostly to a successful season on the ITF tour where the majority of her success has been on clay. Mona Barthel is far from her best at the moment, the former world #23 is barely inside the top 200 at the moment as she has lost 15 of her last 16 matches. It’s impossible to predict anything other than a victory for Bondar given Barthel’s miserable form.
Prediction: Bondar in 2
Ana Bogdan vs Ivana Jorovic
H2H: First meeting.
Ana Bogdan hasn’t had a great season by her standards but should have little trouble beginning her Cluj-Napoca campaign with a victory. Ivana Jorovic has lost 11 of her last 13 matches, including a humiliating 0-6 1-6 loss to Xinyu Wang in the opening round of qualifying in Tenerife last week. Bogdan will be in action for the first time since an agonizingly close loss at the first round stage of the US Open almost two months ago. A 7-6 6-7 6-7 loss to Rebeka Masarova in three hours and 44 minutes was one of the longest matches of the season. The Romanian should be in for a much shorter work out on this occasion, Bogdan will be far too solid for a struggling Jorovic.
Prediction: Bogdan in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
