There is a great slate of WTA matches set for Day 3 at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. The American crowd will get to see an all-American battle between Shelby Rogers and Amanda Anisimova. There are also three Major champions taking the court; Emma Raducanu, Victoria Azarenka, and Petra Kvitova. It will surely be a great day and all matches are predicted at Last Word on Tennis. We split the rest of the day’s matches between three other articles. One features Veronika Kudermetova vs Simona Halep, the second highlights Elena Rybakina vs Garbine Muguruza, and the third features Iga Swiatek vs Sloane Stephens.
WTA Cincinnati Day 3 Predictions
Petra Kvitova vs Sorana Cirstea
Head-to-head: 5-4 Kvitova
The two veterans are meeting for the 10th time with Kvitova having the slight edge. However, they have played just twice since 2016, both matches won by Cirstea at the last two Australian Opens. Kvitova unsurprisingly had a good season on grass where she captured her lone title in 2022, while she had mixed results on hard. She lost her first match back on hard in Toronto and looked shaky against Jil Teichmann here in three close sets where Teichmann served for the match and had a match point later in the second set. Cirstea scored a big first-round win over Belinda Bencic in another close match where her serve helped make the difference. Kvitova will have to rely on her big serve to win, but Cirstea has looked better and played Kvitova well recently so she will pull off the upset in a close one.
Prediction: Cirstea in 3
Shelby Rogers vs Amanda Anisimova
Head-to-head: 3-0 Rogers
Rogers has won all of their meetings, including two this year on hard courts. After struggling with injuries and getting back to top form, Anisimova looks to be back to playing some of her top tennis this year. Rogers is also in great form, making the final a couple weeks ago in San Jose where she beat Anisimova in straight sets in the quarters. This match could go either way with both players playing well and having excellent first round matches here. The slight difference will be the faster courts here in Cincinnati which hurts Anisimova’s big ground strokes that make her so dangerous on clay. The match is close to a toss-up, but Rogers has a slight advantage with the court speed and knows how to beat Anisimova, so she will take it in a long battle.
Prediction: Rogers in 3
Victoria Azarenka vs Emma Raducanu
Head-to-head: first meeting
This match is interesting between two players with immense talent that have had trouble at times finding big wins. Raducanu has struggled this year after her US Open victory in 2021, with just a 12-14 record on the season. Azarenka has been stronger on the year after missing most of last season, but she has still yet to make a final.
One glaring issue is that Raducanu has not just struggled to win matches but has yet to have a convincing win. She has not beaten any player ranked in the Top 40 all year. Azarenka though she has not been her absolute best is certainly dangerous enough to be that level. Azarenka is strong and will use her power to give Raducanu more than she can handle. Raducanu looked great against an out-of-form Serena Williams but Azarenka is at another level and will win fairly easily.
Prediction: Azarenka in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
