Welcome to tennis paradise! Day 2 at the WTA 1000 in Indian Wells sees different worlds collide as we have four first meetings to predict. These could be difficult to foresee with no history between the players to draw on but, as always at LWOT, we’ve given it our best shot. We also predict the rest of the day’s action, split between three separate articles. One features Sloane Stephens vs Sofia Kenin, the second headlines Marketa Vondrousova vs Rebecca Marino, and the third features Emma Raducanu vs Danka Kovinic.
WTA Indian Wells Day 2 Predictions
Emma Navarro vs Caty McNally
Head-to-head: First meeting
Emma Navarro’s done her fair share of winning over the last twelve months, with no less than five finals to her name in that time, going on to win in two of those. Still, those finals came at ITF level and, when she’s been given the chance at the top level, her results have been fairly middling.
Caty McNally is a different breed. She has special weapons in her game, enough to beat some of the best in the world. Her game can frequently be up and down and the conditions will test her temperament. Navarro will do well to hang with her for the most part however as this should be the American’s game to win.
Prediction: McNally in 3
Maryna Zanevska vs Lauren Davis
Head-to-head: First meeting
Both of these players can be considered in-form so this could be a very exciting first round. It takes a high level to defeat Maryna Zanevska at the moment. She’s a heavy hitter with a slew of recent WTA quarterfinals to her name.
Lauren Davis can bring a high enough level to the table here however. Her recent title in Hobart was startling–with no sets dropped there, she unpicked hard-hitting opponent after hard-hitting opponent with ease. The conditions could help as well as her steadiness and lack of serve should be aided by the windy, heavy conditions. Davis for the win here in a quality encounter.
Prediction: Davis in 2
Sorana Cirstea vs Kimberly Birrell
Head-to-head: First meeting
Sorana Cirstea hasn’t won a ton of matches recently but don’t let that fool you. Her game is fit for the WTA through and through, possessing a backhand that has felled 16 top 10 opponents throughout her career. Her recent losses are likely due to her losing just a touch of her former physicality.
Kimberly Birrell does have the game to win this match but it’s a bit of a coin flip against a strong opponent. The advantage of having warmed up in qualifying could be enough to steal this one from the Romanian’s clutches but it’ll be close.
Prediction: Birrell in 3
Tamara Korpatsch vs Danielle Collins
Head-to-head: First meeting
Things have been looking grim for Tamara Korpatsch. Consecutive losses at the highest level forced her to drop to ITFs but she went on to lose fairly comfortably to two opponents ranked outside the top 200 in those events too. A proper knock in confidence has led to her first serve vanishing.
Who better to take advantage of that than the mighty returner, Danielle Collins. The one-sided loss to Iga Swiatek at Dubai was quickly dispelled with a strong run to the Austin semifinals. She’s not quite had the same consistency of last year but there’s no doubt her talent is still in abundance. This shouldn’t be too tricky.
Prediction: Collins in 2
Main Photo Credit: Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports
