The WTA Qatar Open is underway and we’re in store for some entertaining clashes on day two. A number of big names are set to open their campaigns during the day’s play and, as ever, we here at LWOT will be offering up our predictions for every match on the schedule, including Ana Konjuh vs Anett Kontaveit, Shelby Rogers vs Coco Gauff and Sorana Cirstea vs Garbine Muguruza. But who will come out on top?
WTA Qatar Day 2 Predictions
Tereza Martincova vs Elina Svitolina
Head-to-head: Svitolina 1-0 Martincova
Elina Svitolina has played well in patches this year, but suffered disappointing losses in both Melbourne and Dubai. Her form has somewhat dipped since 2020, but she’s still a highly talented player and her game should suit these conditions. Though her form doesn’t exactly place her as a title contender at the WTA Qatar Open, she’s too good to go out this early.
Tereza Martincova certainly shouldn’t be cause Svitolina too much trouble. Their only previous meeting came last year at Indian Wells, which Svitolina won in straight sets. If the world #15 is playing well then don’t expect Martincova to be able to hit through her often enough to make any real waves in this match. Unless she has an off-day, this should be relatively straightforward for Svitolina.
Prediction: Svitolina in 2
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Viktorija Golubic vs Andrea Petkovic
Head-to-head: Golubic 1-0 Petkovic
This should be a terrific encounter. Despite being ranked inside the top 40, Viktorija Golubic was unable to get through qualifying for Dubai last week, which was fairly surprising. Despite this, her career seems to be peaking right now and she’s at her highest ever ranking at the age of 29. It’s been a disappointing start to the year though, and she needs some good results to get underway properly.
Andrea Petkovic, meanwhile, is nearing the end of her career and isn’t the player she once was, but the German can still be a threat on her day. She has a losing head-to-head against Golubic, but given hard courts aren’t her opponent’s favoured surface, this could be very close. But expect Golubic to just about sneak it. She’s in the better stage of her career and it feels like things will probably click for her again soon. It could go either way really, but the Swiss should have the edge.
Prediction: Golubic in 3
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Daria Kasatkina vs Ajla Tomljanovic
Head-to-head: Kasatkina 1-1 Tomljanovic
This could be some match. Both players are capable of hitting their opponents off the court when they’re on song, and the split wins in their head-to-head makes a lot of sense. They are, however, yet to play on hard courts. Tomljanovic annihilated Kasatkina in 2019 at Wimbledon, whereas Kasatkina did the same in 2018 in Rome. Oddly enough, both players conceded just four games in their wins.
Kasatkina is the younger of the two and the more promising player. She had a fantastic 2021 and the 24- year-old will no doubt build on this even more as the year goes on. She’s had a few tough losses in 2022, but three of them came against Paula Badosa and Iga Swiatek. Given it’s their first hardcourt meeting, it’s tough to call an obvious winner here. Expect Kasatkina to have the edge though – her form in recent times has been great overall and she should have too much for the Australian.
Prediction: Kasatkina in 3
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Simona Halep vs Caroline Garcia
Head-to-head: Halep 7-1 Garcia
Simona Halep is in an interesting place right now. She’s had a pretty phenomenal career so far, and her ranking of 23 in the world doesn’t reflect her quality. She made a good semifinal run in Dubai last week, but ended up falling short there against a red-hot Jelena Ostapenko. Aside from that, however, her form hasn’t quite been what we’ve come to expect from her recently, and this is a tricky first match for her. Despite dominating the head-to-head, she’s been tested in their last two meetings.
Caroline Garcia is certainly capable of great performances here and there but struggles to put it together consistently enough. She has plenty of power in her game to trouble Halep when she’s not at her best, but it is still hard to see her getting a second win against her here. Halep isn’t at the peak of her powers right now – but she’s good enough to win this and the Romanian could be in line for a good. Still, this may be a close match, though.
Prediction: Halep in 3
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