The first WTA tournament since the 2022 Australian Open has a bumper order of play on Day 2 in St. Petersburg. Who will win through to the next round?
WTA St. Petersburg Day 2 Predictions
Jelena Ostapenko vs Xinyu Wang
Head to Head: First Meeting
This should be an intriguing clash. I like both players and both of them have some excellent form indoors. Ostapenko really managed to start finding her best form at the back end of last season with a run to the Indian Wells semifinals. She also reached an indoor final, losing to Clara Tauson but showing that she can handle this style of match.
Wang had a 15 wins and five losses record on the tour indoors last year, highly impressive. Some of those wins were in qualifying though and though she’s currently at her highest ranking of #86 in the world, she has rarely played a player as good as Ostapenko. The change of level may catch her out this time and the Latvian will have a chance to continue.
Prediction: Ostapenko in 2
Kamilla Rakhimova vs Petra Martic
Head to Head: First meeting
Martic is in a really tough run of form at the moment. Wins are coming very sparingly and very few of them are against good players. Her last two victories were against wild card Katie Volynets at last year’s Indian Wells and before that a qualifier in Dalma Galfi at the US Open. She also lost her only indoor match last year as well so there is little form in these conditions to work on.
Rakhimova is hardly in great form herself but has managed to string a few wins together and has the ability to win this one too. Recent victories over the likes of Sara Sorribes Tormo and Greet Minnen show that she can play to the level needed to beat this current version of Petra Martic.
Prediction: Rakhimova in 2
Kaja Juvan vs Alison Van Uytvanck
Head to Head: First Meeting
Very tough match to call. The bookmakers are leaning slightly towards the tall Belgian. There are some lines of form that support this view; Van Uytvanck has won five in a row indoors, including a title win in her last indoor tournament in 2021. She has also won four out of her last five opening round matches.
However, Juvan has a lot of potential and this could be a big year for her. She has a very good record on hard courts, but a lack of experience indoors. To be playing a woman who has an 80% winning record indoors in the last year is possibly a bit of a tall order at this stage though and I would suggest that Van Uytvanck is the most likely winner.
Prediction: Van Uytvanck in 2
Maria Sakkari vs Anastasia Potapova
Head to Head: Sakkari 1-1 Potapova
The top seed at St. Petersburg will be hoping to get her tournament off to a flying start here but the Russian will be a tricky opponent. Though Potapova’s victory over Sakkari was almost five years ago now I’m sure that the younger player will remember it fondly and use it as inspiration for this match.
However, the Greek has better form in almost every department. Her service holds are more frequent, her return game win percentage is better and she has a better win rate on hard courts in the last twelve months than the Russian. The home advantage may account for a little extra percent for Potapova but not enough to override the Sakkari power game.
Prediction: Sakkari in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
