It promises to be an entertaining Day 2 of the WTA Qatar Total Open in Doha. Nine first-round matches are on schedule with three of them featured in this article. Russia’s Daria Kasatkina will take on big-serving qualifier Rebecca Marino in the last match of the day. Who do you think will come out on top?
WTA Doha Day 2 Predictions
Elise Mertens vs Danielle Collins
Head-to-head: Collins 2-1 Mertens
Mertens is a former champion of the Qatar Open. And with a wild card not forthcoming, she battled through three rounds of qualifying to get into the main draw. Despite dropping down to world #37, the Belgian’s consistency has never been in question. Collins, meanwhile, sits five spots below Mertens although she signed up for this event with a world ranking of No. 11, long before she exited the Australian Open in the third round. This should be a very close match. Mertens is tough to beat on hard courts. But Collins’ weight of shot tips the scales in her favor.
Prediction: Collins in 3
Sofia Kenin vs Liudmila Samsonova
Head-to-head: Kenin 1-0 Samsonova
Kenin is showing signs of life after a couple of turbulent years. She was beset by injuries for the most part and her confidence was drained. But a run to the semifinal in Hobart last month has rekindled her career. It’s such impeccable timing. Talking of timing, Ludmilla Samsonova will only get 24 hours of rest time before she plays again. Sasmonova lost in an incredible final at the Abu Dhabi Open during the weekend, squandering multiple match points in the second set tiebreak before losing to Belinda Bencic in a three-set barnburner. She appeared to have some physical issues when the match went into a third set and called for the trainer at one point. It will be interesting to see how she fares here because she’s never been a player to shy away from a challenge. Kenin could do with playing a fatigued opponent and it wouldn’t come as shock if she picked up a win.
Prediction: Kenin in 3
Daria Kasatkina vs Rebecca Marino
Head-to-head: first meeting
It would be harsh to conclude that Kasatkina has regressed back into her post-pandemic flimsiness from a couple of years ago. However, she needs to arrest this mini-slump very quickly at the Qatar Open. Her recent results make for grim reading, with just one win in four matches. And she has been losing quite heavily. That is certainly not Top 10 level form from the Russian world #8. Rebecca Marino is coming off a very strong qualifying campaign punctuated with a straight-sets dismissal of Marie Bouzkova in the final round on Monday. Should Marino bring the same energy here, she might complicate matters for the sixth seed.
Prediction: Marino in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
