The entertaining action is set to continue on day four at the French Open with the second round set to get underway. As ever, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the slate, including Aryna Sabalenka vs Iryna Shymanovich, Jessica Pegula vs Camila Giorgi and Daria Kasatkina vs Marketa Vondrousova. But who will secure their spot in the third round?
French Open Day 4 Predictions
Sloane Stephens vs Varvara Gracheva
Shane: Sloane Stephens continued her in-form play with a dominant first-round victory over the 16th seed Karolina Pliskova. She takes on Varvara Grachceva for the third time this season. Their two previous meetings this season were very close, and this one should be no different. I give the slight edge to the American whose baseline power should win out.
Prediction: Stephens in 3
Yesh: Stephens, a finalist here in 2018, once again looked like a Grand Slam champion in the first round, hammering Pliskova. She should be favoured in this one, and if her form keeps up she’s a threat to go extremely deep here.
Prediction: Stephens in 2
Glenys: The American and Russian have played three times on tour, and Gracheva actually holds more wins – though all their meetings have been on hard. Stephens took out the 16th seed in the first round in a dominating performace. Gracheva will hope to extend her advantage over Stephens, but it looks more likely that Stephens will level it up
Prediction: Stephens in 2
Embed from Getty Images
Liudmila Samsonova vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Shane: Compatriots Liudmila Samsonova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova both had dominant first-round victories. Samsonova has been the more consistent player this season. She is a dark horse to make a deep run in Paris and should be able to handle Pavlyuchenkova.
Prediction: Samsonova in 2
Yesh: This is a generational battle of Russians. The older prodigy who never quite lived up to her potential vs the under-heralded potential elite. I’ll go with Samsonova, but just barely.
Prediction: Samsonova in 3
[cta id=445 type=cta]
Glenys: The first meeting between these two Russian players. Both had relatively easy first-round matches, although Samsonova lost only one game in the entire match. Tricky to call this one as neither have faced each other before. Samsonova is the higher ranked so should be the favourite on paper. However, that doesn’t always go to plan
Prediction: Samsonova in 3
Embed from Getty Images
Sara Errani vs Irina-Camelia Begu
Shane: Former world #5 Sara Errani is amidst a career renaissance at age 36. She faces Irina-Camelia Begu in the second round, who has handily beaten her in their last two meetings. Begu comes into this match in solid form and should be able to outlast the veteran Italian.
Prediction: Begu in 2
Yesh: Errani is coming off a really impressive upset right now. At some point, the Italian’s body won’t keep up with the stresses of playing elite tennis. But we’re not there yet.
Prediction: Errani in 3
Glenys: The Italian holds the advantage in the head to head. But they are level on clay court wins against each other, at two each. Begu is the seeded player and won the last two meetings on clay. Errani will try and get the upperhand against Begu here, but it won’t be easy
Prediction: Begu in 3
Embed from Getty Images
Caroline Garcia vs Anna Blinkova
Shane: Fifth seed Caroline Garcia was pushed to the brink in First-round. Anna Blinkova, on the other hand, dropped just two games in her first-round victory. Despite being the underdog, Blinkova defeated Garcia in Paris in 2019 and will have the confidence to do it again. I think Garcia’s inconsistencies will cost her in this match.
Prediction: Blinkova in 3
Yesh: Garcia showed quite a bit of her general 2023 rust in the first round. Blinkova probably isn’t the player to take advantage of it, but Garcia is playing with fire with her current form.
Prediction: Garcia in 3
Glenys: A rematch of the 2019 second round match which Blinkova won. These two have only played twice on tour, and hold one win each. Unfortunately, the win on clay was Blinkova. Garcia is the fifth seed and will be hoping to reverse the outcome of that match. Garcia dominated the first set last time, but then Blinkova came back to win. Another tough match this time around.
Prediction: Garcia in 3
Main photo credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
