The green clay at the WTA Volvo Car Open in Charleston is taking names already this week with Petra Kvitova, Aliaksandra Sasnovich, and Ana Konjuh falling at the first hurdle on Day 1. Some of the big seeds will be hoping to avoid that fate on Day 2. Who else will make it into the second round?
WTA Charleston Day 2 Predictions
Magda Linette vs Katie Volynets
Head-to-head: First meeting
If this was on any other surface than clay then I would give Volynets a bigger chance of an upset here. Linette is not in great form and actually does have a poor 1-5 record at this venue. However, a lot of those defeats were tight matches against good players. Volynets doesn’t have a lot of WTA experience on clay and you cannot say the same about Linette. In the end I think that will be the biggest difference between the two players and why the Pole will come out victorious.
Prediction: Linette in 2
Sloane Stephens vs Qinwen Zheng
Head-to-head: First meeting
I have this down as the match of the day at Charleston. Stephens is often more associated with the bigger events and being able to improve her game for Grand Slam tennis. However, she is already a tournament winner this year and her clay court record is better than it is on hard or grass. Incidentally, Zhang’s record on clay is also excellent. This comes principally from her runs on the ITF Tour in 2020 when the Chinese won three ITF tournaments in four. This is a definite banana skin for Stephens but one that I think she will pass in the end to set up a decent tournament for the American.
Prediction: Stephens in 3
Karolina Pliskova vs Katarina Zavatska
Head-to-head: First meeting
It is tricky to work out where Pliskova is at right now. It feels like a long time since I have seen her after two “blink and you’ll miss them” appearances at the Sunshine Double. In usual circumstances, this would be a match-up in which I would feel confident in siding with the Czech athlete but it feels as though Zavatska, or indeed, most players, could give Pliskova some trouble right now. However, if Pliskova can fire her serve and forehand that is all she may need to win this one and get something going again.
Prediction: Pliskova in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
