With 14 matches on the schedule on day three at the WTA Qatar Open, there should be plenty of entertaining action for the fans in Doha. As ever, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the schedule, including Paula Badosa vs Clara Tauson, Aryna Sabalenka vs Alize Cornet and Magda Linette vs Barbora Krejcikova. But who will come out on top?
WTA Qatar Day 3 Predictions
Jaqueline Cristian vs Daria Kasatkina
Head-to-head: first meeting
Daria Kasatkina has enjoyed a solid start to 2022 after rediscovering her form, at least to an extent, in 2021. The world #28 started her year with back-to-back semifinal showing in the WTA Gippsland Trophy and in Adelaide, before reaching the third round at the Australian Open. She did lose in the first round last time out in Dubai to make it back-to-back defeats, coincidentally both at the hands of Iga Swiatek, but she bounced back from that by edging out Ajla Tomljanovic in the first round in Doha.
Lucky loser Jaqueline Cristian, who lost to Oceane Dodin in the final round of qualifying, took advantage of her good fortune to open her account in Qatar by stunning Elena Rybakina in straight sets. But it is rather hard to see the Romanian backing that up here. Kasatkina is a very different sort of player to Rybakina and while she may not be able to hit the same heights as the Kazakh, she also rarely plumbs the same depths. Expect the wily Kasatkina to outfox Cristian here.
Prediction: Kasatkina in 2
Embed from Getty Images
Ons Jabeur vs Aliaksandra Sasnovich
Head-to-head: Jabeur 1-0 Sasnovich
Aliaksandra Sasnovich has struggled with consistency throughout her career, but when the Belarusian is on song she can be a difficult opponent to stop. She has certainly looked very sharp so far at the WTA Qatar Open. She started her week in the qualifying, beating Ana Bogdan, 6-1 6-1, and Kirsten Flipkens, 6-2 6-3, to secure her place in the main draw, where she dismissed Zhang Shuai for the loss of only two games for her seventh tour-level win of the season.
This is not necessarily a straightforward first match for Ons Jabeur then. Particularly because the Tunisian has endured a difficult start to 2022, in no small part due to injury. She looked to be getting back to something approaching her best last week in Dubai, only for Simona Halep to bring her campaign to a crashing halt in the quarterfinals. Still, she has enough variety to disrupt Sasnovich’s rhythm and sufficient power to hit through the Belarusian from the baseline, even if it won’t be easy.
Prediction: Jabeur in 3
Embed from Getty Images
Viktorija Golubic vs Iga Swiatek
Head-to-head: Golubic 1-0 Swiatek
After a banner year in 2021, the pressure is on Viktorija Golubic to cement her progress in 2022. That has proven easier said than done for the Swiss so far, who arrived at the WTA Qatar Open with just three wins to her name this season. But she did not look a player struggling for form in picking up her fourth win of the year, beating Andrea Petkovic 6-4 6-4. Unfortunately for Golubic, one suspects that Swiatek will not prove such an obliging opponent. The Pole did lose their only previous match, in 2019 at Wimbledon, but she has improved considerably since and her solid ball-striking from the baseline should see her safely past Golubic and into the third round.
Prediction: Swiatek in 2
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
