Martina Trevisan and Yulia Putintseva headline day two of the Hungarian Grand Prix. The tour has briefly shifted back to clay, giving many clay court specialists a chance to compete and win matches before the fall hard court swing. As always, we here at LWOT will preview and predict every match including Laura Siegemund vs Aleksandra Krunic.
Martina Trevisan vs Natalia Szabanin
Head-to-head: first meeting
The talented veteran Trevisan takes on the young local talent Szabanin in the first match on centre court. Trevisan had a great clay court season earlier in the year, shooting her to a career-high rank of #26 in the world. She secured her first career title on the clay in Rabat, and followed it up on the big stage by making the semifinal at the French Open. She comes in on a three match winning streak, though she lost both her matches on grass with the fast surface not a good fit for her baseline-centric game. Trevisan has won 10 of her last 11 matches on clay and appears to be a real threat. Szabanin is also coming in with good form after consecutive futures titles. Szabanin is talented but has not played players at Trevisan’s level, especially at the Italian’s current form. Trevisan is a tough matchup for Szabanin because with her movement she is a threat on every return game and has been dominant on clay and will continue to be.
Prediction: Trevisan in 2
Anna Bondar vs Jesika Maleckova
Head-to-head: first meeting
Bondar is a clay-court specialist who will also be thrilled to be back on the clay after a challenging grass season. She has had by far her most success on the surface and is coming off a run to the finals in Contrexeville last week in her first tournament back on clay. Maleckova also favors the clay like Bogdan though she is a veteran who has never quite broken through on the main tour. She has performed well against ITF competition, but Bondar dominated that competition on her way to playing consistent tour-level tennis. Bondar will have a physical advantage in not just being a bit younger, but coming in fresh after Maleckova was on court over two and a half hours in her final round qualifying match. All signs point to Bondar in this one, and she will win easily.
Prediction: Bondar in 2
Yulia Putintseva vs Anna-Karolina Schmiedlova
Head-to-head: 2-1 Putintseva
Putintseva has the edge in their prior meetings, though they haven’t met since 2018 and that match ended in a retirement after the first set. Neither player has had much of a year to speak of, but Putintseva did post a 9-4 record during the Spring clay season compared to 8-8 on all other surfaces. Schmiedlova also favors clay and got used to the surface playing last week, though she lost to world #170 Rebeka Masarova in Bastad after winning her first two matches. Putintseva will look to build on her round of 16 showing in Rome as a qualifier, scoring a massive win over Garbine Muguruza. Their two style are different with Schmiedlova using her height to rely on a big serve, while Putintseva beats opponents with strong ground strokes. Clay plays right into Putintseva’s strengths, and she will continue her strong run of form on the surface this year.
Prediction: Putintseva in 2
Ana Bogdan vs Panna Udvardy
Head-to-head: 2-0 Bogdan
Though Udvardy is ranked slightly above Bogdan, their 2022 seasons have gone in opposite directions. Udvardy has struggled with just a 13-21 record on the year, while the veteran Bogdan has continued to be consistent with a 17-9 record, 7 of those wins coming on clay. Most of Udvardy’s wins on the year came at the ITF level, though she did make the second round at Wimbledon and the round of 16 last week in Bastad. Bogdan has not played on clay for a few months, but she will likely continue the momentum from her strong clay season. Bogdan beat Udvardy 6-2 6-4 in their most recent meeting on the clay in Romania. Udvardy does have talent and will hope to utilize the home crowd to get behind her and wear down the older Bogdan. Bogdan’s experience will win out, and she will limit errors and play more solid tennis overall to take the match.
Prediction: Bogdan in 3
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