After Jessica Pegula’s triumph in Montreal, the next WTA 1000 event kicks off with Day 1 of main draw play on Monday in Cincinnati. While few seeds are in action there should be plenty of great tennis in store. Beatriz Haddad Maia is one of the top seeds in action and she is looking to keep that seeding after falling into a slump. Former semifinalist Sloane Stephens is also looking to get back in form and will surely thrill the home crowd. All Cincinnati matches are previewed here at Last Word on Tennis. We look at the rest of the day’s matches in two separate articles–one features Elina Svitolina vs Caroline Wozniacki and the other features Venus Williams vs Veronika Kudermetova. Who do you think will advance?
WTA Cincinnati Day 1 Predictions
Karolina Muchova vs Beatriz Haddad Maia
Head-to-head: 2-0 Muchova
An interesting matchup between the French Open finalist and semifinalist taking place on hard courts. Each of them play best on clay and while Haddad Maia plays well on faster grass courts, Muchova’s defense helps her play well on hard. Muchova had a good run in Montreal where she pushed world #1 Iga Swiatek to a close third set, while Haddad Maia had a disappointing second round loss. The match will be close with a contrast between Muchova’s strong defenses and Haddad Maia’s power. Muchova is better on hard courts and in better form so this will go in her favor.
Prediction: Muchova in 3
Anhelina Kalinina vs Lin Zhu
Head-to-head: 1-0 Kalinina
While Kalinina won their lone meeting it was all the way back in 2015. Both players come in losing their last three matches after a decent summer. Kalinina had several good results on the clay while Zhu had better results on grass. Zhu made the semifinal in Monterrey capping off a strong run to her hard court season, while Kalinina had poor results to end the spring hard court swing. Zhu is the better hard court player and will lock in as the tour moves to hard and start her tournament strong with a convincing win.
Prediction: Zhu in 2
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Petra Martic vs Emma Navarro
Head-to-head: First meeting
Navarro is hoping to continue her strong year that has seen her capture three ITF titles. She is playing her first event back on hard after spending a lot of time on clay, her best surface. She won both her qualifying matches in there sets. Matric is ten years older than Navarro and a crafty veteran with a strong serve. Martic like the clay as well but has more experience playing on hard than Navarro. That will be the difference and she can rely on her serve to stay in control of the match.
Prediction: Martic in 3
Sloane Stephens vs Elisabetta Cocciaretto
Head-to-head: First meeting
Stephens is always a danger on hard courts though her biggest issue has always been inconsistency, as seen with her mixed results on hard courts this year. Luckily for Stephens, she has a fortunate matchup in Cocciaretto who is a pure clay court specialist. She is coming from the European clay swing playing her first matches on clay. The adjustment to the surface, lack of comfort on it, and faster speeds against Stephens power will be far too much to overcome. This one will be all Stephens in front of a home crowd.
Prediction: Stephens in 2
Main Photo Credit: Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports
