Monday marks the Day 1 of main draw action at the 2022 WTA BNP Paribas Poland Open. Six first-round matches are on the schedule, including a tie featuring the fifth seed, Caroline Garcia. The Frenchwoman seems to have picked up her form in recent weeks. Can she smoothly dispatch Misaki Doi? Who do you think will advance?
WTA Warsaw Day 1 Predictions
Nadia Podoroska vs Alexandra Cadantu-Ignatik
Head-to-head: 1-1
Nadia Podoroska took a long injury break between last year’s US Open and Wimbledon, but the Argentinian is slowly making her way back to the tour. She’s already earned a couple of ITF semifinals, although it’s obviously not quite the form that once took her to a Roland Garros semifinal. Even though she’s facing a qualifier here, it’s not going to be an easy matchup at all. Alexandra Cadantu-Ignatik is still going strong at 32 and is coming off a second-round appearance at Hamburg. The Romanian looked very solid in the qualifying and could use that match rhythm to gain the advantage here.
Prediction: Cadantu-Ignatik in 3
Maja Chwalinska vs Rebeka Masarova
Head-to-head: Masarova 1-0
Rebeka Masarova beat Maja Chwalinska 6-1 7-5 in Valencia this year, but plenty of extra factors suggest it will be a closer affair this time. The Pole will get plenty of crowd support playing at home and Masarova might suffer physically. She had to finish the last two sets of her final qualifying round against Tena Lukas today and only gets a couple of hours of rest. With that in mind, it seems like Chwalinska should be able to grind her down. Masarova was able to overpower her in Valencia, but hitting off slices requires good footwork, which could get tougher and tougher to achieve with every minute spent in the very hot conditions.
Prediction: Chwalinska in 3
Misaki Doi vs Caroline Garcia
Head-to-head: Doi 1-0
An in-form Caroline Garcia is a scary, scary sight for the opponents and that’s what we seem to be experiencing right now. The Frenchwoman caught fire at Bad Homburg and has gone 13-3 ever since. Misaki Doi has also never really played well on clay. Garcia has the game to dominate this matchup and on a surface that’s much more preferable for her, she should be able to keep up the good rhythm and do just that. Her peak level is definitely way above Doi’s.
Prediction: Garcia in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
