After a thrilling Wimbledon which saw Elena Rybakina and Novak Djokovic crowned champions, the hybrid summer clay/hard court season kicks off. A number of top players have elected to enter the WTA Lausanne Open in Switzerland. As always, we here at LWOT are offering our predictions for every match on the slate, including Lauren Davis vs Sara Sorribes Tormo. But who will reach the second round?
WTA Lausanne Day 1 Predictions
Ylena In-Albon vs Jule Niemeier
Head-to-head: first meeting
Jule Niemeier is in great form right now, making a surprise Wimbledon quarterfinal after never winning a match at a grand slam prior. The result was surprising as Niemeier has been her best on clay, capturing her first career WTA Challenger title on clay this Spring. Her four career ITF titles also all came on clay. In-Albon also loves the clay, with seven career ITF titles on the dirt.
Ylena In-Albon has one ITF title on clay this year and has had several strong results, but has a poor record at tour-level. Niemeier has a bit more experience, and she will be riding a ton of confidence with her Wimbledon performance. Niemeier is the better player and with the added confidence will take the win.
Predictions: Niemeier in 3
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Anna Kalinskaya vs Tamara Zidansek
Head-to-head: Zidansek 2-0 Kalinskaya
Tamara Zidansek won their most recent meeting in straight sets on the clay in Bogota last year. She is just 2-4 on clay in 2022, though she showed her talent on the surface last year with a 21-6 record including a French Open semifinal and her lone career WTA title. Kalinskaya is a solid young player who is trying to win a couple matches to reach another career-high ranking and break into the top-70.
The Russian’s successes have mostly come on hard courts, with 13 of 16 wins in 2022 coming on that particular surface, while posting an indifferent record of 4-12 on clay over the last two seasons. Though Zidansek struggled a bit on clay this year, she will be motivated to prove her strength on her favorite surface. Zidansek has won all four sets against Kalinskaya, and this match will be no different.
Prediction: Zidansek in 2
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Oceane Dodin vs Susan Bandecchi
Head-to-head: Dodin 2-0 Bandecchi
Dodin won both their previous meetings easily, but comes in with a poor run of form, losing five matches in a row. Bandecchi sits outside the top-200 in the world but was awarded a Wild Card to the event as a local player. She has beaten just one player ranked inside the top-100 all year, which was world #97 Misaki Doi, though that did come on a clay court.
She will have to double that against Dodin, who despite the poor form has recorded over half of her wins on the year on clay. Bandecchi has one ITF title on clay, though that came back in 2017. Though Dodin has been in poor form, she has had some bad luck with draws. Her consistent game will play to her advantage against a less-skilled player. Bandecchi will play freely with nothing to lose and feed off the crowd and steal a set, but Dodin will comfortably win the other two and take the match.
Prediction: Dodin in 3
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