It’s a final between the top two seeds at the 2023 WTA Monastir Open. One of them is the defending champion, the other is looking for her first title in over two years. As always, we here at LWOT are offering our preview and prediction for the final, as well as the final in Jiangxi, but who will come out on top?
WTA Monastir Final Prediction
Jasmine Paolini vs Elise Mertens
Head-to-head: Mertens 3-1 Paolini
Jasmine Paolini has enjoyed a career-best season, although her only WTA Tour title actually came back in 2021 in Portoroz. But only it’s been the past few months when she broke the top 30 and reached a WTA 1000 quarterfinal in Cincinnati. It feels like a cherry on top is required and it would be that 2nd title of her career. Time is running out though as this is her last appearance of the year (she already had one shot in Palermo, lost to Zheng Qinwen).
Elise Mertens won the first edition of the WTA Monastir Open last year, beating Claire Liu 6-4 6-0 in the semifinals and then crushing Alize Cornet 6-2 6-0 in the final. She clearly loves this venue and she’s been very dominant the past week, only dropping 18 games in four matches and never allowing her opponents to even get to a tiebreak. The consistent Belgian is looking for her 8th WTA Tour title and owns a 7-4 record in finals.
Mertens leads the head-to-head 3-1, but the last three matches have all been very tight. Paolini’s ceiling is definitely a bit underrated and when the Italian has the confidence to start attacking with her forehand, she can actually be a pretty imposing player. She’s demonstrated that on many occasions this year and she will need that sort of quality to take out Mertens.
The issue is that the Belgian is an extremely gritty competitor who never drops below a certain level. This should be a close final and Paolini certainly has her chances in it on a good day at the office. It’s up to her to deliver the goods and cap off that brilliant season with a trophy.
Prediction: Paolini in 3
Main photo credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
