The WTA Doha Open continues in Qatar and day three offers plenty of entertaining matchups – at least on paper. As always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the slate, including Coco Gauff vs Katerina Siniakova. But who will book their spot in the third round in Doha?
WTA Doha Day 3 Predictions
Maria Sakkari vs Linda Noskova
Head-to-head: first meeting
This event has been a happy hunting ground for Maria Sakkari as she’s made it to at least the quarterfinal in the last two editions. However, she arrives here on the back of a straight-set pummeling by Sorana Cirstea in Abu Dhabi and she will have to shrug off the disappointment stemming from that loss if she will be able to withstand the rising star’s Linda Noskova’s firepower. The Czech defeated the top women’s tennis player Iga Swiatek in Melbourne and she’ll feel confident she can continue to enjoy her Doha debut.
Prediction: Noskova in 3
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Petra Martic vs Naomi Osaka
Head-to-head: Osaka 1-0 Martic
Naomi Osaka broke Caroline Garcia in the final game of each set to snatch victory from the same player who sent her packing from the Australian Open in the first round. She’s also defeated Martic before in their only previous match, but that was a decade ago now. The Croatian fought off Aranxta Rus in a closely contested match to secure her first win since Melbourne and will be looking to build on from there. Even though she was lucky at times, Osaka displayed tremendous resilience to scrape a win in the first round and it will give her confidence a boost going into this match.
Prediction: Osaka in 3
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Victoria Azarenka vs Xinyu Wang
Head-to-head: first meeting
Wang Xinyu converted four of seven break points to secure a dominant win over Beatriz Haddad Maia in the first round and will next face Victoria Azarenka who is a two-time champion here. Even though Azarenka struggled past Magdalena Frech in the first round, she is the more seasoned and assured player of these two and it would be surprising if she doesn’t win this match to continue her quest for her third title at the WTA Doha Open.
Prediction: Azarenka in 2
Main photo credit: Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports
