The 2022 Jasmin Open continues with four second-round matches that all look fairly lop-sided on paper. But are they? Home crowd favorite Ons Jabeur plays Evgeniya Rodina. Who do you think will advance?
Anastasia Potapova vs Tamara Zidansek
Head-to-head: Potapova 2-0
Tamara Zidansek hasn’t had a great campaign in 2022, falling out of the top 100 and failing to defend her Roland Garros semifinal points. The Slovenian struggled in the opening round here too, beating Marina Bassols only after the Spaniard served for the match. Anastasia Potapova could be too much of a step up as her game is a lot better suited to hard courts and she’s very much on the upward trajectory this year.
Prediction: Potapova in 3
Petra Martic vs Moyuka Uchijima
Head-to-head: First meeting
Moyuka Uchijima scored a couple of decent wins in Monastir already and is slowly, but surely showing up in more and more tour-level events. The Japanese will be facing an uphill battle here though. Petra Martic’s game has a lot of variety that isn’t really that common on the WTA circuit. It tends to be the deciding factor in her matches against lower-ranked opposition.
Prediction: Martic in 2
Magdalena Frech vs Veronika Kudermetova
Head-to-head: Frech 3-1
The head-to-head might come as a surprise, but the last match was contested almost five years ago. It should be a different situation right now as Veronika Kudermetova is enjoying the best season of her career and is still in contention for a WTA Finals spot. She doesn’t go above a certain level, but also won’t fall below it. Especially against a player like Magdalena Frech, who doesn’t do that much with the ball.
Prediction: Kudermetova in 2
Ons Jabeur vs Evgeniya Rodina
Head-to-head: Jabeur 3-0
After all the success she’s enjoyed recently, a WTA 250 event in her home country is a monumental thing for Ons Jabeur. Expectations will be high, but they didn’t seem to freeze her in the opening round. That’s probably the only way she could lose to Evgeniya Rodina right now as the Russian is still in the early days of her comeback.
Prediction: Jabeur in 2
Main Photo from Getty Images
