As all the main tour events have to end on Saturday this week, Wednesday at the 2023 Internationaux de Strasbourg will feature the remaining second-round clashes. Top-seeded Magda Linette takes on the resurgent Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in what looks like a cracker. Who do you think will come out on top?
WTA Strasbourg Day 4 Predictions
Varvara Gracheva vs Selena Janicijevic
Head-to-head: Gracheva 1-0
Varvara Gracheva has cooled off a bit since her phenomenal start of the year, but she was back in decent shape at the WTA 125K in Paris last week. The Russian barely fought through Bai Zhuoxuan in the opening round here and will need to up her game soon. However, Selena Janicjievic still hasn’t really shined since being a promising junior and could allow Gracheva another match where she won’t need to display her best level.
Prediction: Gracheva in 2
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Viktoriya Tomova vs Lauren Davis
Head-to-head: Davis 2-1
They’ve already played this month with Lauren Davis winning a thriller 7-5 in the third at a 125K event in Reus. That was their only clay meeting and looking at how it went, this one should be tight again. Viktoriya Tomova is the slightly more natural clay-courter and should like this opportunity at exacting revenge. It’s basically a coin toss though and should come down to the form of the day.
Prediction: Tomova in 3
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Elina Svitolina vs Erin Routliffe
Head-to-head: First meeting
Elina Svitolina won this event three years ago, but it’s not going to be that easy now as she’s just coming back from her pregnancy hiatus. This is a fantastic draw for the Ukrainian though. Erin Routliffe is a doubles specialist and barely plays singles these days. She managed to get into the main draw as a lucky loser and beat Su-Wei Hsieh, who’s also just returning from a long break. Svitolina should advance comfortably.
Prediction: Svitolina in 2
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Magda Linette vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Head-to-head: Pavlyuchenkova 2-0
Magda Linette played well at Strasbourg the past couple of years, now she returns to the event as the top seed and one of the title favorites. To keep going, she’ll need to dispatch Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, against whom she’s never won a set in two meetings. Both of these came a long while ago and the Russian is now in a completely different moment of her career, returning from a long injury hiatus. It should be competitive, but Linette deserves to be the slight favorite this early in Pavlyuchenkova’s comeback.
Prediction: Linette in 3
Main Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
