Barring Daria Kasatkina’s early exit, things have gone as expected for the top seeds so far in Hamburg. Varvara Gracheva – the #6 seed – also bowed out early but that was at the hands of Anastasia Potapova who is a better player than her ranking suggests. With several seeds in action on Tuesday, it will be interesting to see if that trend continues. There are seven matches set to be played on the third day of action in Hamburg. In this set of WTA Hamburg day 3 predictions we take a look at four of those seven.
WTA Hamburg Day 3 Predictions
Aleksandra Krunic vs Sabine Lisicki
Head-to-head: First meeting
Aleksandra Krunic is the clear favourite in this encounter. The Serbian is fresh off a finals run in Budapest and will be full of confidence as a result. Sabine Lisicki was once one of the top players in the women’s game. However, the German has suffered multiple injuries since over the last 5-7 years and is once again trying to work her way back onto the WTA Tour as a result. Some decent showings in recent weeks have her back inside the top 500 in the women’s game. Whether she can go further remains to be seen but I don’t think it will be happening here. Krunic is the in-form player and is playing better tennis than the German at the moment.
Prediction: Krunic in 3
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Bernarda Pera vs Elena-Gabriela Ruse
Head-to-head: 1 – 1
Bernarda Pera should be all of this match unless her run to the title in Budapest last week has taken too much out of her. The lefty is now back inside the top 100 in the women’s game on the back of that title run and has a real chance to do some more climbing here in Hungary. She is catching opponent Elena-Gabriela Ruse at the perfect time as well, with the Romanian having won just two matches in her last ten. The pair have split their previous two meetings, both of which were on clay. However, their most recent encounter was two months ago in Strasbourg and Pera won comfortably then. Barring any fatigue, I expect the same again here.
Prediction: Pera in 2
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Laura Pigossi vs Katerina Siniakova
Head-to-head: First meeting
Laura Pigossi finished 2020 ranked #395 in the world. It is testament to her success on the ITF circuit that she is now #120 in the world. However, at 27 years old the Brazilian has certainly had ample time to break through onto the big stage. She still has time to do so, and players like Nuria Parrizas-Diaz are evidence that a late career take off is certainly possible. That being said, a deep run here will prove difficult as she must first get passed the ever-solid Katerina Siniakova. The Czech has struggled in recent months and is teetering on the edge of the top 100. She remains a very solid player though, and will like her chances of winning this match. I like them too and I expect her to edge it in 3 sets.
Prediction: Siniakova in 3
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Anett Kontaveit vs Irina Bara
Head-to-head: First meeting
Anett Kontaveit has been relatively quiet in 2022. In fact, the Estonian has only won two more matches this year than she did across her final four tournaments of 2022 (16 wins this year vs 14 across those tournaments). Those 16 wins include a title run in St Petersburg early in the year as well, so she has been quiet for a couple of months now. That being said, she is a top five player when in full flow and players of that quality usually come good eventually. Irina Bara is a tricky first round opponent who excels on clay, so Kontaveit will need to be ready for a battle. Nevertheless, I expect Kontaveit to have a good showing in Hamburg and that starts with a win in this match.
Prediction: Kontaveit in 2
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