First-round action continues with Day 2 at the WTA Mutua Madrid Open, a day full of exciting match-ups including the biggest stars in women’s tennis right now. As always, we here at LWOT will preview and predict every match including Monica Puig’s and Maria Sakkari’s match. Who do you think will win?
WTA Madrid Day 2 Predictions
Jessica Pegula vs Camila Giorgi
Head-to-head: Pegula 4-2 Giorgi
Pegula has had an interesting year with big runs in Miami and at the Australian Open but a lack of consistent deep runs week in, week out. The American showed last year that she is not scared of clay with solid results including a Rome quarterfinal. Giorgi is making her first appearance in Madrid since 2016 and is generally the least threatening on clay. The 30-year-old hasn’t had a great year, 4-5 in 2022 with her most recent loss coming against Tamara Korpatsch in Stuttgart. These players have a lot of history with six previous meetings dating back to 2011. Pegula’s only title so far came at Washington 2019 where she had to defeat Giorgi in the final while the Italian beat Pegula in the Montreal semifinal which has been the biggest title of her career so far. I see the American as the favorite here.
Prediction: Pegula in 2
Leylah Fernandez vs Andrea Petkovic
Head-to-head: first meeting
Fernandez took the coveted line one spot in the draw after Iga Swiatek’s withdrawal and became the 17th seed. This season will be a big test for the 19-year-old as she tries to establish herself on the main tour, though so far it does not seem like clay will be one of her strong suits. Petkovic will be an interesting opponent as the tour veteran has won most of her titles on clay but has only advanced past the first round three times in nine appearances in Madrid. The German did get wins in qualifying here, beating Misaki Doi and Kaja Juvan in straight sets. I’m going to go for the upset here and pick Petkovic to take out the Canadian young gun.
Prediction: Petkovic in 3
Bianca Andreescu vs Alison Riske
Head-to-head: Andreescu 1-0 Riske
Andreescu started her season in Stuttgart with a victory over Julie Niemeier and taking a set off Aryna Sabalenka. The Canadian has now dropped out of the Top 100 and has never been great on clay, but that is also the case for her opponent here. Riske has a negative record on clay over her career though she did reach the Nurnberg final in 2018. It’s a tough one to predict but despite her lack of success on the surface, Andreescu’s style of play suits clay more than the American’s with the head-to-head also leaning her way. The 21-year-old won their only previous meeting at Indian Wells last year and I expect her to win again.
Prediction: Andreescu in 2
Naomi Osaka vs Anastasia Potapova
Head-to-head: first meeting
Though Osaka suffered a major ranking drop to begin her year, her results have been quite good this year, getting back to the Top 40 with the Miami final run and has a 11-4 record on the season. Clay is famously her worst surface but Osaka still might do good on her wild card into the tournament as she is a former quarterfinalist in Madrid. Potapova will be a tough opponent here, qualifying past Daria Saville and Kristina Mladenovic as well as winning her first WTA title last week in Istanbul. The young Russian is on a roll but I do believe Osaka will be able to battle past her.
Prediction: Osaka in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
