There should be plenty of entertaining action on day two at the WTA Lyon Open with eight intriguing matches on the schedule and plenty of big names set to take to the court. As always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the schedule, including Kristina Mladenovic vs Zhang Shuai, but who will book their place in the second round?
WTA Lyon Day 2 Predictions
Mariam Bolkvadze vs Sorana Cirstea
Head-to-head: first meeting
On paper, this looks like something of a mismatch. Sorana Cirstea is a former-Grand Slam quarterfinalist and has been ranked as high as world #21. That was nine years ago, but she is not that far away from that lofty perch now at world #31 and she has enjoyed a solid start to this season, highlighted by a run to the fourth round at the Australian Open. She beat both Petra Kvitova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova en route to the second week in Melbourne.
Mariam Bolkvadze, in contrast, is currently ranked 156th in the world and the Georgian has never been inside the world’s top 150, though at just 24 she does have plenty of time to change that. She also played some fine tennis to come through the qualifying, rallying from a set down to beat Despina Papamichail before securing her spot in the main draw with a 6-3 6-3 win over Mai Hontama. Still, this looks almost certain to be a challenge too far for Bolkvadze.
Prediction: Cirstea in 2
Embed from Getty Images
Vera Zvonareva vs Alison Van Uytvanck
Head-to-head: Van Uytvanck 3-0 Zvonareva
When Vera Zvonareva was at the peak of her powers, this is a match that the former-world #2 would surely have expected to win. But the Russian, now 37-years-old, is not the player she once was and that has been shown in this matchup. Alison Van Uytvanck has very much had the better of it, beating Zvonareva in all three of their previous meetings, including barely a week ago in Qatar. The conditions at the WTA Lyon Open might suit Zvonareva a little better, but it is hard to see that making enough of a difference. This should be comfortable for Van Uytvanck.
Prediction: Van Uytvanck in 2
Embed from Getty Images
Camila Giorgi vs Caroline Garcia
Head-to-head: Garcia 2-1 Giorgi
This is surely the match of day two at the WTA Lyon Open. Camila Giorgi is not exactly in the form of her life – she arrives in Lyon having lost her last three matches – but the Italian is amongst the most effective ball-strikers in the women’s game when she is on song. And she often finds her best tennis seemingly from nowhere. But she might need to be at her best up against Caroline Garcia, herself hardly a byword for consistency but a dangerous opponent all the same.
She has also been in better form than Giorgi, if only marginally, scoring a confidence-boosting win over Simona Halep in the first round in Qatar last week. She will doubtless be frustrated that she was not able to back that up, losing in the second round to Coco Gauff, but she will also likely be relishing the opportunity to take on the top-seeded Giorgi on home turf. Both players are more than capable of winning this match, but expect it to be Garcia who rises to the occasion.
Prediction: Garcia in 3
Embed from Getty Images
Elisabetta Cocciaretto vs Martina Trevisan
Head-to-head: Trevisan 1-0 Cocciaretto
Martina Trevisan may remain rather more comfortable on the clay than away from it, but the Italian has been making strides on hard courts of late. She impressed in coming through the qualifying at the Australian Open to reach the second round and backed that up with a run to the quarterfinals at an ITF-event in Grenoble. She was, however, well-beaten by Stefanie Voegele in the first round of qualifying in Doha last-time out.
Elisabetta Cocciaretto, meanwhile, has endured a frustrating season so far, with this set to be just her second outing of the year. Her first ended in defeat in the second round of qualifying at Melbourne Park. She may struggle to make much more of an impact in Lyon. There will be few secrets between this pair – they have played doubles together relatively frequently and made the final in Palermo together last season – but Trevisan has that much more experience and, currently, quality.
Prediction: Trevisan in 3
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
