Women’s tennis is staying in Adelaide for a second tournament in as many weeks. World #1 Ashleigh Barty lifted the trophy in the first of the two. Aryna Sabalenka – the top seed in this tournament – will be hoping to replicate the Aussie’s achievement and win as the top player in the draw. However, that will be no easy feat, with a deep draw full of talent lining up in here in Adelaide. We take a look at which of those players should make it to the next round in our WTA Adelaide 2 day 1 predictions.
WTA Adelaide 2 Day 1 Predictions
Ana Konjuh vs Daria Saville
Head-to-head: First meeting
On paper this looks very one-sided. Ana Konjuh made a resounding comeback from injury last year and charged into the top 100 in the women’s game. The Croat is a former top 20 player and showed flashes of that level in 2020. All that means she should be the huge favourite against a player ranked 421 in the world in Daria Saville (formerly Daria Gavrilova). However, Saville is also a former world #20 and is coming back from injury struggles of her own. That means this match should be close if both play well. Their styles are also different which could add to the intrigue here. Konjuh is very aggressive and loves playing on the front foot while Saville is happy to defend and counterpunch. Adelaide’s courts are quite quick and tend to reward aggressive tennis so I’m giving the edge to Konjuh here but I expect this to go the distance.
Prediction: Konjuh in 3
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Magda Linette vs Alison Riske
Head-to-head: 4 – 0 Riske
This should be another great first round contest in Adelaide. Neither Magda Linette nor Alison Riske are huge strikers of the ball. However, both like to be aggressive and go for their shots. That means their could be a fair few spectacular winners here if both play to the level they are capable of. Linette has shown over the past two years that she is a legitimate top 50 player on the women’s tour. Riske at her best has a slightly higher level she can go to, but she hasn’t been at that level for well over a year now. It’s unlikely she finds it in her first match of 2022 so I’m picking Linette to win here in what should be another close affair.
Prediction: Linette in 2
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Elina Svitolina vs Madison Keys
Head-to-head: 2 – 2
Madison Keys will be hurting after dropping her perfect 7-0 record against Daria Kasatkina in Melbourne last week. She faces another tough opponent early in a tournament here in the form of #2 seed and world #15 Elina Svitolina. The Ukrainian is an elite player on the women’s tour with several big titles to her name. However, she has never quite managed to develop the front foot tennis needed to consistently compete with the big hitters in the women’s game. Madison Keys is certainly one of those big hitters. Now, I predicted Keys would beat Kasatkina in Melbourne and she lost. Again she is in a match that should be on her racket here in Adelaide. So, lightning not striking twice and all that, I’m backing Keys again. If she gets it going she hits anyone off the court and Svitolina has shown signs of falling away in recent months. This will likely go three sets but I expect Keys to hit enough winners to edge it here.
Prediction: Keys in 3
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