It should be an entertaining day of tennis at the WTA Zhengzhou Open, elevated to WTA 500 status for the first time. There are six first-round matches on the schdule in Zhengzhou and, as always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the schedule, including Nao Hibino vs Donna Vekic. But who will book their spot in the second round?
WTA Zhengzhou Day 1 Predictions
Moyuka Uchijima vs Jasmine Paolini
Head-to-head: first meeting
Jasmine Paolini, in the midst of a career-best season, must be accounted aT fairly heavy favourite heading into this match. The Italian performed solidly in reaching the third round in Beijing last time out, holding her own against world #1 Aryna Sabalenka in a 4-6 6-7 defeat, probably her best showing since reaching the quarterfinals in Cincinnati. Moyuka Uchijama impressed in the qualifying, but has not had a great deal of success at this level – though she did reach the second round in Osaka and Guangzhou. The Italian should have the edge here.
Prediction: Paolini in 2
Lesia Tsurenko vs Diana Schnaider
Head-to-head: first meeting
There are a few intriguing subplots here and, as usual when a Ukrainian faces a Russian, there will likely be little love lost. Lesia Tsurenko is approaching the end of her career, or she is at least a lot nearer to the end than the beginning, but she is still a good competitor and is deserving of her place in the top 50 of the WTA rankings. Diana Schnaider, meanwhile, has shown flashes of real promise, but there will be concerns over the lucky loser’s fitness heading into this match after she retired trailing 2-6 0-3 in the second round of qualifying. With that in mind, it’s hard to see her getting past Tsurenko here.
Prediction: Tsurenko in 2
Anhelina Kalinina vs Ellen Perez
Head-to-head: first meeting
Ellen Perez has enjoyed far more success on the doubles court than in singles, but she certainly can play in this discipline and has had a good week so far the WTA Guangzhou Open. The Australian beat Ma YeXin and Tamara Korpatsch to book her place in the main draw and, whilst she will be the underdog, there are worse draws she could have received. That said, Anhelina Kalinina has had a generally impressive season and played well last week in Beijing. If the Ukrainian can maintain that level, she should have the beating of Perez, even if she has to go the distance to get the win.
Prediction: Kalinina in 3
Main photo credit: Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK
