The rain has been slowing down the organizers at the 2023 WTA Hong Kong Open and come Wednesday, there are still six first-round matches left to be played. One of them will be the seventh meeting between two former top 20 players – Daria Saville and Elise Mertens. Who do you think will prevail?
WTA Hong Kong Day 3 Predictions
Ho Ching Wu vs Sara Sorribes Tormo
Head-to-head: First meeting
The Asian swing is back, and the Hong Kong native Ho Ching Wu gets a chance to play in a WTA Tour event again. The 32-year-old is a solid ITF Tour competitor with one title this year, but nothing suggests she has improved all that much since last appearing in this tournament in 2018. Sara Sorribes Tormo is also one of the worst possible draws she could have gotten, simply a player who doesn’t drop below a certain level.
Prediction: Sorribes Tormo in 2
Sofya Lansere vs Hong-Yi Cody Wong
Head-to-head: First meeting
Hong-Yi Cody Wong used to get qualifying wildcards for this event before the pandemic, but never won a set in three appearances. Now it seems like she’s actually gotten a winnable opportunity in the main draw against the qualifier Sofya Lansere. The Russian dominated an ITF tournament in Kyoto recently though and seems to be in decent shape in Hong Kong as well, having defeated Ya-Yi Yang in the qualifying campaign.
Prediction: Lansere in 3
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Priscilla Hon vs Anna Blinkova
Head-to-head: Blinkova 1-0
Priscilla Hon is coming off a couple of ITF events in Australia that went pretty well for her, but the quality of the competition is so much stronger here. She did take advantage of a favorable opening round draw though. This is probably where her run ends with Anna Blinkova, who feels like she’s done a pretty massive step up this year and is basically holding her own at WTA Tour level on a regular basis now.
Prediction: Blinkova in 2
Daria Saville vs Elise Mertens
Head-to-head: Mertens 4-2
Don’t let Daria Saville’s ranking outside the top 200 fool you, that’s only because she had to start her season in June. From that point onwards she’s been back at a very nice level again and used to do extremely well at WTA Hong Kong, including a final appearance in 2017. She’s played this event four times and never lost before the quarterfinals. Now she faces a very tough opponent in the first round, but Elise Mertens isn’t exactly peaking at the moment and this match looks pretty close.
Prediction: Saville in 3
Main Photo Credit: Geoff Burke – USA TODAY Sports
