Day two at the WTA Hobart International should be an entertaining one. The tournament boasts an impressive line-up and there are plenty of stars in action on day two with nine matches on the slate. As always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match, including Claire Liu vs Yulia Putintseva and Alize Cornet vs Elisabetta Cocciaretto. But who will come out on top?
WTA Hobart Day 2 Predictions
Nuria Parrizas Diaz vs Mayar Sherif
Head-to-head: first meeting
There is a consistent theme to the best wins of Nuria Parrizas Dias’s career. As one might expect from one of Spain’s best players, Parrizas Dias can out-grind some of the best grinders in the world–her top 100 wins include Sara Sorribes Tormo (twice), Putintseva, Alize Cornet, Arantxa Rus (also twice), Martina Trevisan and Misakia Doi. Looking at her losses however– Jessica Pegula, Kaia Kanepi, Shelby Rogers, Beatriz Haddad Maia, Ajla Tomljanovic– suggests she can be out-hit. Mayar Sherif leans more towards the grinding style of play. Having lost her final qualifying match to Marta Kostyuk, she’s here as a lucky loser and looks a little vulnerable. Parrizas Dias could be given free rein to do what she does best.
Prediction: Parrizas Diaz in 2
Embed from Getty Images
Lucia Bronzetti vs Anna Blinkova
Head-to-head: Bronzetti 1-0 Blinkova
These are conditions that should suit Anna Blinkova’s game more so than Lucia Bronzetti’s. Though Bronzetti started her season off with three wins at the United Cup, none of her wins were against top 100 players (she also lost to Madison Keys and Magda Linette fairly one-sidedly). Contrastingly, Blinkova’s two wins to qualify were against top 100 players (Varvara Gracheva and Panna Udvardy) and they were both comfortable. This should be her favourite time of the year, fresh at the start of the season (unhampered by any injuries) and able to hit big on a fast-court. The Russian should be the favourite here.
Prediction: Blinkova in 2
Embed from Getty Images
Alison Van Uytvanck vs Magda Linette
Head-to-head: first meeting
Is Magda Linette on your radar? Big wins didn’t quite convert into big results last year so we wouldn’t blame you…
- Three times last year she won four one-sided matches in a row but was unstuck in a final.
- Early-round wins against top-ranked players Keys, Jabeur, Mertens and Fernandez were followed by early exits.
- Strong wins against Begu, Pliskova and Keys at the Billie Jean King Cup weren’t rewarded with ranking points.
Linette scratches the inside of the top 50 in the world but hasn’t quite caught the world’s attention just yet. Unjustifiably so as she’s consistently capable of playing above her ranking. Meanwhile, Alison Van Uytvanck has been dealing with the opposite. A fair chunk of her points from last year came from a specialist title on the grass of Gaiba and she’s since gone 5-5 against players ranked outside the top 100. Linette is in much better form than Van Uytvanck which should be enough for the straight-sets win.
Prediction: Linette in 2
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
