After a great tournament in Beijing won by Coco Gauff Sunday, we have another WTA 1000 starting already in Wuhan. It promises to be another very exciting tournament from Day 1, even if the top players won’t be in action on Monday yet. There’s still a very nice mix of home players and dark horses looking to start a big run.
WTA Wuhan Day 1 Predictions
Dayana Yastremska vs Erika Andreeva
Head-to-head: Yastremska 2-0 Andreeva
Yastremska is on a terrible six match losing streak and should be quite low on confidence at a moment. In a matchup as tight as this one is on paper, that might be enough to make the difference, but Andreeva herself hasn’t been playing very well and is in fact only in this main draw as a lucky loser. It should be a very tight match, with both players desperate for a much-needed win to gain some momentum going forward.
Prediction: Yastermska in 3
Diane Parry vs Hailey Baptiste
Head-to-head: Parry 1-0 Baptiste
This is another very tight matchup, one that could genuinely go either way. Baptiste had a hard-fought run through qualifying to get to the main draw, one that might give her the necessary confidence boost to pull through here. In such a tight matchup as this one, that might well make the difference, even if it should be a very close match either way.
Prediction: Baptiste in 3
Xinyu Wang vs Caroline Dolehide
Head-to-head: first meeting
Wang is the clearly the superior player overall and she has home advantage here, so she has a clear edge going in. To make matters worse for Dolehide, she has lost her last three matches and six of her last seven, so she is really struggling for form and confidence at the moment. Given that, Wang should be able to prevail here.
Prediction: Wang in 2
Beatriz Haddad Maia vs Madison Keys
Head-to-head: Keys 2-1 Haddad Maia
Keys won with relative ease when the pair faced last week in Beijing and the same should happen here. Even if Haddad Maia is the higher ranked player of the two, on a hard court Keys clearly has a higher level on hard courts when she is playing well. If she plays at the same level as she did last week, she should be able to win again.
Prediction: Keys in 2
Main Photo Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
