Day 2 at Wimbledon will see 32 women’s matches. We’ll wrap up the first round (weather-permitting) and find out who’s moving on to Round 2. As always, we at LWOT will share our thoughts on all of the matches for you. We split up the 32 matches between eight articles. The other articles feature Coco Gauff vs Elena-Gabriela Ruse, Serena Williams vs Harmony Tan, Garbine Muguruza vs Greet Minnen, Jessica Pegula vs Donna Vekic, Iga Swiatek vs Jana Fett, Petra Kvitova vs Jasmine Paolini, and Simona Halep vs Karolina Muchova. Predicting today’s articles are Fraser Learmonth, Jakub Bobro, and Jim Smith.
Wimbledon Day 2 Women’s Predictions
Sloane Stephens vs Qinwen Zheng
Fraser:
This smells of upset to me. Zheng is a superb young talent on the rise in the WTA and Sloane Stephens seems determined to continue on this rollercoaster journey of superb tennis highs followed by shocking results. The American’s game isn’t suited to grass courts and I think Zheng will blast her off the court here.
Prediction: Zheng in 2
Jakub:
Stephens did look very good at the French Open, reaching the quarterfinals, but is less effective on grass. The 29-year-old has not made it past the third round here since 2013 and lost her only grass lead-up to Katie Swan in Bad Homburg. Zheng also looked very good at the French and won her first WTA title in Valencia earlier this month. The 19-year-old played her first pro matches on grass this season, losing in straight sets to Magdalena Frech and Alycia Parks. Stephens’ experience should help her pull through here.
Prediction: Stephens in 2
Jim:
After her impressive exploits at the French Open, Stephens was brought back to earth by a first-round defeat in Bad Homburg at the hands of Katie Swan. That was not a massive surprise with grass never the American’s favourite surface. But Zheng has also struggled on the surface so far with this season her first real exposure to grass-court tennis. That inexperience will likely prove fatal to her chances.
Prediction: Stephens in 3
Jil Teichmann vs Ajla Tomljanovic
Fraser:
Tomljanovic will certainly be grateful there are no points for Wimbledon this year as she was defending a quarterfinal place at last year’s event. She likely won’t be seeing the second round this time as Teichmann is the better player and in good form coming in to Wimbledon. Grass isn’t her favorite surface, but the Swiss can flatten her groundstrokes out nicely and has the net game to do well here.
Prediction: Teichmann in 2
Jakub:
Teichmann had a very strong clay season but has failed to translate that form to grass. The Swiss took losses to Daria Saville and Harriet Dart and has never been past the first round here. Tomljanovic is defending a quarterfinal here and beat Katie Boulter in Nottingham earlier this month. The Australian should be the favorite here with her previous Wimbledon success.
Prediction: Tomljanovic in 2
Jim:
After her French Open challenge was ended in brutal fashion in the fourth round by Stephens, Teichmann has struggled to bounce back, losing in the first round in Berlin and Eastbourne. This is by no means a straightforward first-round draw either. Tomljanovic has a fine record at Wimbledon and the Australian should feel confident about her chances of reaching the second round.
Prediction: Tomljanovic in 3
Clara Burel vs Katie Boulter
Fraser:
Boulter has the advantage of the home crowd, better familiarity with the surface and a poor year by Burel until now. The young French star looked set to make strides in the WTA a couple of years ago but has faltered somewhat since then. This looks like a three-set match that the Brit should edge in the end.
Prediction: Boulter in 3
Jakub:
Burel has really struggled this season, 7-13 on the year with no grass lead-ups played. The Frenchwoman had a good result here last year, making the second round out of qualifying in her first-ever grass tournament. Boulter should beat her though with the form she is in right now. The Brit is 7-3 on grass this season, including wins over Karolina Pliskova and Alison Riske.
Prediction: Boulter in 2
Jim:
Boulter is one of several British players to have found some form on the grass in recent weeks. That should not come as a surprise. Boulter has always been a very clean hitter and would have accomplished more in her career if not for injuries. Burel, in contrast, prepared for Wimbledon by playing two clay-court events and lost early at both.
Prediction: Boulter in 3
Paula Badoa vs Louisa Chirico
Fraser:
I haven’t seen enough of Chirico to fairly assess her chances here. However, if she’s come through qualifying then she certainly isn’t a slouch and has the advantage of familiarity with Wimbledon courts as well. Nevertheless, Badosa played top five in the world tennis last year and will be confident she has enough in her game to edge out a win here. I am equally confident though I don’t expect it to be straightforward.
Prediction: Badosa in 3
Jakub:
Badosa made the fourth round here last year but she played just one lead-up, losing to Jodie Burrage in the Eastbourne first round. Chirico qualified to make her second Wimbledon main draw, first in six years. The American is enjoying a good season but is not ordinarily known for her grass prowess. This should be a good match for Badosa to get into a rhythm here.
Prediction: Badosa in 2
Jim:
Badosa may have fallen to an inspired Jodie Burrage in her only grass-court match of the season so far, but Chirico looks like a less dangerous opponent than Burrage. She will be match sharp after coming through the qualifying and Badosa likely won’t have things all her own way, but expect the fourth seed to have enough to reach the second round.
Prediction: Badosa in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
