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 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
Kristina Mladenovic vs Sohyun Park
Head-to-head: first meeting
2021 finalist Mladenovic is hoping to shift the fortunes of her poor 2022 season, earning a 12-23 record this year so far. The former No. 10 has won just one in her last five matches but is having a strong doubles year, winning her fourth French Open doubles title. Park is also having a losing season, most recently winning just two games against Daria Snigur last week. This match should be entirely dependent on Mladenovic’s performance here. The Frenchwoman has struggled but she should be beating the World No. 469.
Prediction: Mladenovic in 2
Anastasia Gasanova vs Astra Sharma
Head-to-head: first meeting
Gasanova has struggled to get her season going, 16-21 on the year, but got one of her biggest career wins last week over Alison Riske-Amritraj, the top seed in Chennai. The Russian was then beaten by Katie Swan in straight sets. Sharma has a similar record with one more loss than Gasanova. The Australian dropped out of the Top 200 for the first time since January 2019 last week but lost just two games in two matches to qualify for the main draw in Seoul. Neither player is in great form but I think Sharma is the favorite here with her qualifying momentum.
Prediction: Sharma in 2
Ekaterina Alexandrova vs Asia Muhammad
Head-to-head: first meeting
Alexandrova, a semifinalist here in 2019, has had an interesting year. The 27-year-old has had some brilliant highs like her Den Bosch title or Madrid semifinal but has failed to win two matches in a row in the last five tournaments she has played. Last week, Alexandrova battled past Marta Kostyuk in Portoroz before losing to Lesia Tsurenko.
Muhammad has had a strong doubles season, reaching the final of Indian Wells and breaking the Top 30. In singles, the American has played more sparingly but has done well when she plays, winning three ITF 25s in Australia early in the season. Recently, Muhammad had a strong showing in Toronto, beating Andrea Petkovic, Donna Vekic, and Madison Keys. The 31-year-old could trouble Alexandrova but I expect the Russian to come out on top as she has not taken a first-round loss since January.
Prediction: Alexandrova in 3
Jelena Ostapenko vs Soyoung Jeong
Head-to-head: first meeting
2017 Seoul champion failed to follow up her strong grass season on North American hard courts, going 2-3 in August. Whether she will show the consistency to go for the title here again is yet to be seen but the draw is quite favorable for the first two rounds. 19-year-old Jeong is playing her first full-time season on Tour, breaking into the Top 700 and reaching two ITF quarterfinals. This should be a good experience for the young Korean but Ostapenko should be winning here.
Prediction: Ostapenko in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
