The China Open in Beijing is the last WTA 1000 event of the 2023 season. It’s a very stacked Sunday schedule too with thirteen singles main draw matches. 12th seed Petra Kvitova takes on the recent Guangzhou champion, Xiyu Wang. Who do you think will prevail?
WTA Beijing Day 2 Predictions
Jasmine Paolini vs Beatriz Haddad Maia
Head-to-head: Paolini 1-0
This is by far the best season of Jasmine Paolini’s career, but how will her form translate to the Asian Swing? That remains to be seen, but the quicker conditions probably won’t be to her liking (even if her forehand is an underrated weapon). Beatriz Haddad Maia is still that very consistent machine when it comes to winning matches she should be winning. Going out to Paolini wouldn’t be that disappointing, but it’s still one of these matches.
Prediction: Haddad Maia in 2
Alycia Parks vs Liudmila Samsonova
Head-to-head: First meeting
Alycia Parks will be defending some serious points soon and yet she still hasn’t shown that she can do it at the top level outside of indoor conditions. The massive serve is often a double-edged sword and her baseline game is so all over the place. Liudmila Samsonova has already had an Asian Swing warm-up in Tokyo and while she wasn’t amazing, her weapons are a lot more reliable than the ones of the American.
Prediction: Samsonova in 2
Daria Saville vs Katerina Siniakova
Head-to-head: Saville 3-0
We’ll see if this head-to-head holds up after all these years (their only recent meeting was a retirement). Daria Saville has played just nineteen matches this year, starting it in June due to an injury. Maybe this could give her an extra boost towards the end of the campaign with her rivals already on their last legs? For what it’s worth Siniakova hasn’t played all that much either, but Saville looks like she could make a splash in the last part of the season.
Prediction: Saville in 3
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Marie Bouzkova vs Yulia Putintseva
Head-to-head: First meeting
We haven’t seen Marie Bouzkova on the court since the US Open, but her North American hard court season was truly excellent. However, that means there’s not that much info in regards to the Czech’s form and how she’ll adapt to the conditions in Asia. This might be a nice advantage to Yulia Putintseva, who’s already played seven matches in China, including two in the qualifying here. It’s not like Bouzkova is that much better anyway, so maybe that’s enough to give the Kazakh a small edge.
Prediction: Putintseva in 3
Petra Kvitova vs Xiyu Wang
Head-to-head: First meeting
Xiyu Wang won her maiden WTA Tour title in Guangzhou a couple of weeks ago. Now we’ll see if the lefty youngster can build up on it (she already lost to Nadia Podoroska in the first round at Ningbo). Petra Kvitova won Beijing back in 2014 and is a bit of a nightmare draw, but a peaking Wang could have a shot here. After all, the veteran Czech was eliminated by Diana Shnaider last week. Kvitova’s level wasn’t poor though and she likes these courts a lot.
Prediction: Kvitova in 3
Main Photo Credit: Geoff Burke – USA TODAY Sports
