With the first round at the WTA 250 in Chennai done and top seed Alison Riske-Amritraj out, the remaining field opens up and still holds plenty of excitement. We have strong veterans in Magda Linette, Qiang Wang, and Tatjana Maria, young talents in Linda Fruhvirtova and Oksana Selekhmeteva, as well as former No. 5 Eugienie Bouchard looking for her first WTA quarterfinal since March 2021. As always, we here at LWOT will preview and predict every match. Who do you think will win?
WTA Chennai Day 3 Predictions
Rebecca Marino vs Katarzyna Kawa
Head-to-head: Kawa 1-0 Marino
Marino has enjoyed a strong season, a 41-19 record, and continuing her form on US hard courts. The 31-year-old beat Venus Williams and Andrea Petkovic to make the quarterfinals out of qualifying in Washington before reaching the third round at the US Open. In Chennai, Marino took out Anna Blinkova in straight sets in her opener. Kawa has largely struggled in 2022, 15-15 on the year with only two strong runs. The Pole went to the final of an ITF 100 in Bonita Springs in May before reaching the second round out of qualifying at Wimbledon. Kawa broke a three-match losing streak with a win over Astra Sharma in the first round. The 29-year-old came out on top in a tight match when she faced Marino in Wimbledon qualifying earlier this year. On current form though, expect Marino to win this match.
Prediction: Marino in 3
Nao Hibino vs Qiang Wang
Head-to-head: Hibino 1-1 Wang
Their second meeting in three weeks after Hibino came back from a set down to eliminate Wang in US Open qualifying. The 27-year-old did not go on to the main draw, losing to Daria Snigur who went on to defeat Simona Halep in the first round. Moving on to Chennai, Hibino was dominant in qualifying, handing out bagels to both Sai Samhitha Chamarthi and Daniela Vismane, before bageling Jana Fett in the first round. Wang has had some nice runs on hard courts this summer, making the semifinals at WTA Prague and WTA Concord. The 30-year-old beat Yanina Wickmayer 6-4 in the third in her opener. This should be an interesting and pretty even match. With their recent match and Hibino’s form in Chennai so far, the Japanese player is a slight favorite for me.
Prediction: Hibino in 3
Karman Kaur Thandi vs Eugenie Bouchard
Head-to-head: first meeting
After suffering an injury in just her second tournament of the season, Thandi missed four months and was unable to start playing regularly until June. The 24-year-old built some confidence with an ITF 25 title in Gurugram but failed to convert her form to U.S. hard courts. Thndi came into Chennai on a four-match losing streak but made good on her wild card, taking out eighth seed Chloe Paquet.
At one point, one of the biggest names in tennis, Bouchard made her return to competition after 17 months in Vancouver. The Canadian also competed in US Open qualifying, beating Yuki Naito before losing to a young talent in Linda Noskova. The 28-year-old made a winning start in Chennai against Joanne Zuger, earning her first tour-level win since her run to the Guadalajara final last March. This is a good opportunity for Bouchard to gain some momentum and confidence heading into the rest of the season, I expect her to win here.
Prediction: Bouchard in 2
Rebecca Peterson vs Linda Fruhvirtova
Head-to-head: first meeting
Peterson had a bit of a highlight in the summer with a semifinal run to Vancouver but lost first round in all the other hard court tournaments she played in the summer before coming to Chennai. The Swede beat the 2020 Australian Open Junior champion Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva in straight sets in her opener. She will face another 17-year-old in Linda Fruhvirtova in the second round. The young Czech made her slam main draw debut at the US Open earlier this month, qualifying and reaching the second round before losing to Garbine Muguruza. Fruhvirtova is inching closer and closer to the Top 100 and I believe she will make another step towards it with a victory here.
Prediction: Fruhvirtova in 3
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