The clay season continues this week for the WTA Tour, with this event in Prague featuring quite a decent field considering the circumstances. Even if the best players in the world will be in Paris looking to win an Olympic medal, a lot of very good clay court players will be in Prague to fight for the title. While the top seeds won’t make their debut on Sunday, it should still be a very interesting day of tennis.
WTA Prague Day 1 Predictions
Jessica Bouzas Maneiro vs Elsa Jacquemot
Head-to-head: Bouzas Maneiro 1-1 Jacquemot
Bouzas Maneiro had a very nice run at Wimbledon, only losing (by retirement) against the eventual champion in the third round; she has been playing well, is the far higher ranked player of the two and should be quite confident ahead of this one, making her the favorite to prevail. Jacquemot likes playing on clay but she has struggled to find success even at lower levels, so she is unlikely to come through this one.
Prediction: Bouzas Maneiro in 2
Ella Seidel vs Nadia Podoroska
Head-to-head: first meeting
Podoroska might be the far higher ranked player, but she comes into this tournament on the back of a five match losing streak, while Seidel has been playing very well on clay and had a very good week in Budapest as well. Given their current form and the surface, this should be a very close match and Seidel might even have the slight edge.
Prediction: Seidel in 3
Renata Jamrichova vs Viktoriya Tomova
Head-to-head: first meeting
17-year-old Jamrichova has been killing it at junior level, with a quarterfinal appearance at Roland Garros followed by a Wimbledon title without dropping a set. She is definitely one to look out for the future and clearly has the potential to beat someone like Tomova even now, but at this point she might not be fully ready to close out matches at this level.
Prediction: Tomova in 3
Suzan Lamens vs Rebeka Masarova
Head-to-head: Lamens 1-0 Masarova
It’s a matchup between two players who are outside the tTp 100 and who have really struggled to string wins all season. This will be seen by both as a great opportunity to get some momentum going and both players will give it their all for a win. It should be a very close match, it should go the distance and be decided by small details.
Prediction: Lamens in 3
Sara Bejlek vs Anhelina Kalinina
Head-to-head: Kalinina 1-0 Bejlek
Their one previous meeting came earlier this year at Austin and was won by Kalinina with relative ease. Although it’s a different surface now and Kalinina has been struggling recently, a similar outcome is to be expected here as Kalinina is simply the much better player overall and on this surface. She should make relatively easy work of this first round.
Prediction: Kalinina in 2
Main Photo Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
