After dropping down to a lower category last year and not being held in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, WTA Seoul is back to being a 250 spot on the WTA calendar. In its comeback edition, Seoul has attracted a decent field with slam champions Jelena Ostapenko and Emma Raducanu the headliners. As always, we here at LWOT will preview and predict every match. Who do you think will win?
WTA Seoul Day 2 Predictions
Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva vs Chloe Paquet
Head-to-head: first meeting
2020 Junior Australian Open champion Jimenez Kasintseva enters the draws as a lucky loser. The Andorran starlet broke a three-match losing streak with a win over wildcard Eunhye Lee but lost to Lulu Sun of Switzerland. Paquet is looking to bounce back after an opening-round loss to Karman Kaur Thandi in Chennai, neither player at their best at the moment. It’s a tough match to call but I will lean towards Paquet here.
Prediction: Paquet in 3
Maddison Inglis vs Ankita Raina
Head-to-head: first meeting
After winning just one game against Tatjana Maria at her home tournament in Chennai, Raina has bounced back well in Seoul. The 29-year-old qualified well, beating countrywoman Riya Bhatia 6-1 6-1 before taking out No. 200 Valentini Grammatikopolou. The draw has been kind to Raina, pitting her against a struggling Inglis. The Australian has had a rough couple of weeks after US Open qualifying, forced to retire from both Portuguese ITFs she played in September. With the last retirement coming just five days before this match, Raina has to be the favorite here.
Prediction: Raina in 2
Jana Fett vs Rebecca Marino
Head-to-head: first meeting
Fett has successfully qualified for the main draw in back-to-back weeks after Chennai last week. The Croat beat out Dabin Kim and Yeon Woo Ku to make the Seoul main draw, She has got a tough draw in the first round though, coming up against Marino who already has 42 wins in 2022. The Canadian has continued getting decent results on the main tour after blowing through the ITF Tour in the first half of the season. The 31-year-old made her third WTA quarterfinal since the start of August in Chennai last week, beating Anna Blinkova and Katarzyna Kawa before losing to eventual finalist Magda Linette. Marino is a level above Fett right now and I expect her to show that in this match.
Prediction: Marino in 2
Tatjana Maria vs Eugenie Bouchard
Head-to-head: Maria 1-0 Bouchard
Since Maria’s run of a lifetime at Wimbledon, the German has gone 6-7 without a significant result. No matter what happens in the rest of the year, the 35-year-old’s 2022 season will go down as her best. Bouchard has looked better with every week in her comeback so far. The former No. 5 made the quarterfinals in Chennai with wins over Joanne Zuger and Karman Kaur Thandi before losing to Nadia Podoroska. Bouchard’s arrow is pointing up but Maria would be her best win in two years. The German will provide the 28-year-old with little to no rhythm in the match. Bouchard is the type of hitter Maria’s game is designed to pick apart.
Prediction: Maria in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
