Wimbledon is over. In its wake, we’ve been given the mini-clay-court-swing to keep us going. This week, the WTA Tour is in Palermo as we look to predict four of the round of 16 matches at the 250 event.
WTA Palermo Day 4 Predictions
Sofya Lansere vs Mayar Sherif
Head-to-head: First meeting
A look at Sofya Lansere’s typical scores and her record on clay tells us all we need to know. The Russian hits big, prone to peaks and troughs–not the kind of game that’s going to beat one of the steadiest clay-courters on the tour right now. Mayar Sherif should have too much for Lansere.
Prediction: Sherif in 2
Dayana Yastremska vs Jasmine Paolini
Head-to-head: Paolini 5-1 Yastremska
The head-to-head in this rivalry is startling. Jasmine Paolini is a truly gritty clay-courter with plenty of margin and fitness underlining her game, yet she’s beaten the hard-hitting Ukranian on hard-courts four out of the five times they’ve met. The matches seem to have been close with Paolini presumably forcing too high a level out of Yastremska in the pressure moments. We expect Paolini to force an even higher level out of Yastremska if she wants the win here on the red dirt of Palermo.
Prediction: Paolini in 2
Erika Andreeva vs Camila Osorio
Head-to-head: First meeting
Erika Andreeva, the older of the two sisters, may be feeling overlooked. She’s still only 19 and, like Mirra, her game has already shown plenty of promise. She has also got plenty of strong defensive qualities but with slightly less weight to her game than her sister.
Andreeva will have some chances against Camila Osorio. The Columbian is a brick wall but she might struggle playing somebody that can keep up with her own rally temperament. We still think experience trumps youth but it’ll probably be close.
Prediction: Osorio in 3
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Daria Kasatkina vs Tatiana Prozorova
Head-to-head: First meeting
Up-and-comer Tatiana Prozorova hasn’t had a whole lot of experience against the best players in the world. This is only her third WTA Tour main draw match and she’s only ever played one top 100 player throughout her fairly short career.
Daria Kasatkina on slow clay will be a great learning curve for her but we don’t see her getting through the Russian’s extremely sturdy defences.
Prediction: Kasatkina in 2
Main Photo Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
