Yes, the French Open has barely finished, but it’s already time to kick off the WTA grass-court season in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands! Main draw action at the 2023 Libema Open kicks off on Monday with six matches on the singles schedule. Liudmila Samsonova and Victoria Azarenka are both facing qualifiers (Lena Papadakis and Natalija Stevanovic). Can they progress as smoothly as it seems they should? We also look at the rest of the day’s matches in a separate article.
WTA Hertogenbosch Day 1 Predictions
Greet Minnen vs Jessika Ponchet
Head-to-head: Ponchet 1-0
Grass is such a novelty surface these days that only a few can, with complete honesty, say that they can play on it. Greet Minnen could be one of them with a quarterfinal appearance in this very event four years ago and a successful Wimbledon qualifying attempt in the past. Jessika Ponchet took her out last year on an indoor court in Angers, but the conditions here should be more favorable towards the Belgian.
Prediction: Minnen in 3
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Liudmila Samsonova vs Lena Papadakis
Head-to-head: First meeting
Liudmila Samsonova had her big breakthrough on this surface in Berlin two years ago, winning the event coming from the qualifying draw and then making the fourth round at Wimbledon. With her flat-hitting and a monstrous serve, the Russian has all the arguments to go deep here. Lena Papadakis stopped Coco Vandeweghe in the qualifying but at this stage of their careers, Samsonova might be a different challenge.
Prediction: Samsonova in 2
Victoria Azarenka vs Natalija Stevanovic
Head-to-head: First meeting
While Victoria Azarenka’s grass court achievements might pale a bit in comparison to her efforts on other surfaces, she still has an excellent record on them over the course of her career. She’s coming off a first-round defeat to Bianca Andreescu in the first round of the French Open, which was a very high-quality affair. Natalija Stevanovic did well to qualify and has a decent grass pedigree herself, but she could be simply outmatched here.
Prediction: Azarenka in 2
Main Photo Credit: Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports
