The Asian Swing continues with the 2023 WTA Seoul Open. The first day of main draw action will feature eight singles matches and, as always, we here at LWOT will be offering our prediction for every match, including Ekaterina Alexandrova vs Mai Hontama. But who will book their place in the round of 16?
WTA Seoul Day 1 Predictions
Arianne Hartono vs Yue Yuan
Head-to-head: Yuan 1-0 Hartono
Yue Yuan is a player who hasn’t shown the world her full potential yet and she reminds us of that from time to time. This Asian Swing she had a very impressive performance in Beijing, beating Elise Mertens and then going down in three sets to in-form Jasmine Paolini. Arianne Hartono qualified for this event in style, but she doesn’t have the explosive potential of Yuan’s forehand shotmaking.
Prediction: Yuan in 2
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Liang En-Shuo vs Yanina Wickmayer
Head-to-head: first meeting
Yanina Wickmayer was a quarterfinalist at this event back in 2008, but the 33-year-old is going strong this year and actually producing her best campaign in years. Her career has been tormented by injuries and yet she’s still an elite talent with a huge game. Liang En-Shuo is too good to be written off completely, but her ability to respond to Wickmayer’s game if the Belgian is firing might be in doubt.
Prediction: Wickmayer in 2
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Polina Kudermetova vs Alycia Parks
Head-to-head: first meeting
Alycia Parks will be defending lots of points soon and she still hasn’t shown that she can pull it off at the WTA Tour level outdoors. This is still a winnable opportunity for her and she needs to be taking chances like that in the very near future. Polina Kudermetova has a similarly offense-oriented playstyle, which might actually be good for the American. This should be a powerful contest where both players will struggle to keep their error count low.
Prediction: Parks in 3
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Katie Boulter vs Kaja Juvan
Head-to-head: first meeting
Kaja Juvan has had a few rough moments in her career recently, both on and off the court, but the Slovenian can still be dangerous on the main tour once she recovers from all that. It’s going to be exciting to see if she can tackle Katie Boulter, who might seem a bit overranked due to her Nottingham title. The Brit actually put in some very solid work at Montreal, the US Open, or even Beijing last week though and should be the favourite here over Juvan, especially with the Seoul conditions suiting her more.
Prediction: Boulter in 3
Main photo credit: Danielle Parhizkaran-USA TODAY Sports
