It should be a terrific second day of WTA Rome action. 2021 French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova’s meeting with Katie Boulter is among the most interesting matches. We here at LWOT predict that contest and all the others in Rome, including Maria Sakkari vs Belinda Bencic and Dayana Yastremska vs Anastasia Potapova, among many others.
WTA Rome Day 2 Predictions
Victoria Mboko vs Arianna Zucchini
Head-to-head: Mboko 1-0 Zucchini
Mboko started her clay-court season with an opening-round loss to Olivia Gadecki in Saint-Malo. The Canadian created attention a few weeks before that by taking Paula Badosa to a deciding set tiebreak at March’s Miami Open. Although Mboko is not as comfortable on clay compared to hard courts, she is the favorite to overcome the wild card Zuuzhini, who is ranked outside the Top 600 and will likely find Mboko’s hitting too much to handle.
Prediction: Mboko in 2
Ajla Tomljanovic vs Varvara Gracheva
Head-to-head: Gracheva 4-0 Tomljanovic
Although Gracheva has a dominant head-to-head record against Tomljanovic, the last two matches were tight battles. Tomljanovic also played well in dominant performances during the qualifying stage. Predicting how the inconsistent Gracheva will perform is always challenging. But she always seems to find her best tennis against Tomljanovic, and clay is also the Frenchwoman’s best surface.
Prediction: Gracheva in 3
Veronika Kudermetova vs Lucrezia Stefanini
Head-to-head: First meeting
Kudermetova played pretty well at the Madrid Open, losing a tight battle to Marta Kostyuk in the Round of 32. Stefanini can be dangerous when her game clicks, especially on clay. However, the Italian struggles to find that level consistently. Kudermetova is also not a very consistent performer, but I trust her more to come through this matchup in Rome.
Prediction: Kudermetova in 2
Katie Boulter vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Head-to-head: Pavlyuchenkova 1-0 Boulter
Pavlyuchenkova is on a run of four consecutive defeats, but Boulter’s weakest surface by far is clay. The Briton’s win against Katerina Siniakova at the Madrid Open was her first clay-court win at a WTA main-draw event. Despite that notable moment and Pavlyuchenkova’s form, I still trust the former French Open runner-up’s hitting slightly more on clay. It could go either way, though.
Prediction: Pavlyuchenkova in 3
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
