The WTA Qatar Open should provide something of a tennis spectacle on day thee – there are fourteen singles matches on Tuesday’s schedule. As always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the slate, including Paula Badosa vs Clara Tauson, Aryna Sabalenka vs Alize Cornet and Viktorija Golubic vs Iga Swiatek. But who will come out on top?
WTA Qatar Day 3 Predictions
Magda Linette vs Barbora Krejcikova
Head-to-head: Krejcikova 1-0 Linette
Magda Linette turned around a 0-5 deficit in her head-to-head win Alison Riske to win on Monday, but the Pole will have to produce again to advance further at the WTA Qatar Open. The only meeting between this pair came back in 2017, long before Barbora Krejcikova established herself as a top player, but it was still the Czech who came out on top. Krejcikova has been very consistent for about a year now and has only lost to very powerfully equipped opponents this year in Paula Badosa, Dayana Yastremska, and Madison Keys. Linette doesn’t quite have the same caliber of weaponry and can often struggle with the confidence in her shots. She’d need to play just about the match of her life to win here.
Prediction: Krejcikova in 2
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Alison Van Uytvanck vs Jil Teichmann
Head-to-head: Teichmann 1-0 Van Uytvanck
Both players have a very attacking mindset and it should be a very interesting battle for baseline dominance. Their only meeting came at an ITF event in Cagnes-Sur-Mer five years ago with Jil Teichmann winning in three sets, but that’s not why the Swiss will be favoured to win this one as well. Or not the only reason. The 24-year-old seemed to catch fire in Dubai last week, having at first gone out in the qualifying before making it all the way to the quarterfinals as a lucky loser. If she can keep it up, she’s capable of higher quality right now than Alison van Uytvanck, whose form has been indifferent of late.
Prediction: Teichmann in 3
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Jessica Pegula vs Kaja Juvan
Head-to-head: first meeting
Kaja Juvan is quite an exciting prospect, but her rise up the rankings has slowed of late. The Slovenian did come through the qualifying in St Petersburg and now at the WTA Qatar Open, and she should enter this match with plenty of confidence having won three matches already this week. Unfortunately for her, Jessica Pegula is probably one of the toughest players to upset on the WTA circuit at the moment. The American might not have the attacking arsenal of Juvan, but she never goes below a certain level and should really enjoy the relatively slow hard court conditions in Doha.
Prediction: Pegula in 3
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Ann Li vs Maria Sakkari
Head-to-head: first meeting
Starting from the second round isn’t always an advantage as the opponent already had a chance to get used to the conditions and more than one seed has been caught cold as a result over the years. Maria Sakkari is in good form though, so it shouldn’t matter that much. The Greek is coming off a runner-up appearance at St. Petersburg a week ago, where she only narrowly lost to Anett Kontaveit. Her serve should be a very big asset in this matchup with the young American Ann Li perhaps slightly outmatched here.
Prediction: Sakkari in 2
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