The second round of the Australian Open wraps up on Day 4. That means that there will be 16 women’s matches with competitors hoping to reach the third round. As always, we here at LWOT will share our thoughts on all the matches. We split up the matches between this and the other articles, featuring Sam Stosur vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Garbine Muguruza vs Alize Cornet, and Aryna Sabalenka vs Xiyu Wang. Predicting today’s matches are Fraser Learmonth, Andy Watson, and Jim Smith.
Australian Open Day 4 Women’s Predictions
Elise Mertens vs Irina-Camelia Begu
Fraser:
Mertens should win this relatively easily. Begu has no real form to speak of in Australia. Add to that the fact that it usually takes an elite player to take Mertens down in Grand Slams and the Belgian should be favoured to move on here.
Prediction: Mertens in 2
Andy:
Mertens made fairly serene progress into this round whereas Begu was on the verge of elimination. Mertens has been the consistently better player between the two for at least five years now and she has the edge on H2H record as well, so I make the Belgian a slight favorite.
Prediction: Mertens in 3
Jim:
Elise Mertens’ career seems to have rather stalled since she fell just short of breaking into the top ten. But she has remained a consistent presence in the Top 30 for some time now, and the reason for that is that she wins nearly all of the matches she is expected to win.
Prediction: Mertens in 2
Danka Kovinic vs Emma Raducanu
Fraser:
Raducanu wobbled a little in her first round match but came through in the end. However, I’m still not convinced she’s able to play consistently at a “top 50 in the women’s game” level. Until she proves me wrong she remains vulnerable to upsets and I can see one happening here.
Prediction: Kovinic in 3
Andy:
Kovinic squeezed past an in-form Yang but the Korean is ranked outside the top 200. Raducanu rose to the big occasion once more in her win over Stephens, her first of the season. Raducanu should be too good for Kovinic but it depends which Raducanu turns up. I will have faith in the Brit on this occasion.
Prediction: Raducanu in 2
Jim:
In the first round, Emma Raducanu did not look like the almost unstoppable force she resembled in sweeping to the title in New York. But the Briton did find a way to win. She may struggle at times again here, but she should have enough to get across the line.
Prediction: Raducanu in 3
[pickup_prop id=”18823″]
Marketa Vondrousova vs Liudmila Samsonova
Fraser:
Great match between great players here. Samsonova is the more aggressive of the two and that kind of game is usually rewarded on the quicker courts in Melbourne. Vondrousova’s variety could make things difficult for the Russian, but I expect she’ll find a way to battle through in the end.
Prediction: Samsonova in 3
Andy:
This should be a cracker. I actually think that the unseeded Russian will progress here. She has been improving quite a lot over the last six months. Vondrousova hasn’t exactly regressed but she isn’t the world beating talent I thought she might be a few years ago and can be vulnerable, on hard courts especially.
Prediction: Samsonova in 3
Jim:
This could probably go either way. But Marketa Vondrousova looked slightly sharper in the first round and she also has the more impressive resume. Expect a close contest, but for Vondrousova to be the player to book their spot in the third round.
Prediction: Vondrousova in 3
Iga Swiatek vs Rebecca Peterson
Fraser:
Iga Swiatek was the only woman to make the second week of all four Grand Slams last year. She has also made a concerted effort to improve on this surface ahead of her 2022 campaign. I think she is a dark horse to win it all in Melbourne and should certainly be favored to advance here.
Prediction: Swiatek in 2
Andy:
Swiatek will be looking to sweep through her draw and get to the latter stages. However, Peterson beat Sabalenka last week and was impressive in the opening round. Swiatek should still have the all-round game to best the Swede though.
Prediction: Swiatek in 2
Jim:
Rebecca Peterson continues to struggle with consistency, but she has found some form Down Under. She showed as much in thrashing Daria Saville in the first round. Unfortunately, its not the sort of form that will take her to a victory over Iga Swiatek.
Prediction: Swiatek in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
