The 2023 WTA Doha Open main draw action starts on Monday with three singles matches on the schedule. Who will kick off their campaign at this WTA 500 event with a win? As always, we here at LWOT are offering our predictions for all three main draw matches on day one in Qatar. But who will come out on top?
WTA Doha Day 1 Predictions
Ipek Oz vs Victoria Azarenka
Head-to-head: first meeting
Ipek Oz has risen up the rankings with plenty of great ITF runs on clay, but she’s yet to make a major tour-level impact. She’s a competent player though and took eight games against Madison Brengle here last year. Victoria Azarenka is coming off a semifinal appearance at the Australian Open and while it seems like a flash in the pan, it really isn’t. The Belarusian hasn’t always been healthy in the past few years, but when she is, her level is still elite.
Prediction: Azarenka in 2
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Karolina Muchova vs Martina Trevisan
Head-to-head: first meeting
Martina Trevisan has already scored a win over Maria Sakkari this year, but also lost 0-6 2-6 to Elise Mertens last week in Abu Dhabi. The Italian generally doesn’t fare that well on hard courts and her ranking is mostly built on that fantastic three-week patch in the spring of 2022 (Rabat title plus Roland Garros semifinals). If Karolina Muchova’s healthy, she’s a massive force on the WTA Tour and she should be cleaning this up rather comfortably.
Prediction: Muchova in 2
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Barbora Krejcikova vs Veronika Kudermetova
Head-to-head: Krejcikova 1-1 Kudermetova
Both players lost to Liudmila Samsonova in Abu Dhabi last week – Barbora Krejcikova in the second round, Veronika Kudermetova in the quarterfinals. The Czech won their first meeting at Roland Garros 2018, but was rather soundly beaten by the World No. 11 just a few months ago in Cincinnati. Their trajectories are a little different right now – Krejcikova is coming back to the top after some injuries, while Kudermetova is yet to show she can repeat her brilliant 2022 campaign. This would be a big step for her and she might not be ready to take it.
Prediction: Krejcikova in 3
Main photo credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
