There will be a new champion in Eastbourne after defending champion Maya Joint was bundled out of the draw in straight sets by Colombian Emiliana Arango on the first day. Day 2 has a staggering nine matches on the reel, including the all-Hungarian battle between Panna Udvardy and Anna Bondar. Along with three other matches in this piece, we predict who will move to the next round.
WTA Eastbourne Day 2 Predictions
Jessica Bouzas Maneiro vs Alicia Dudeney
Head–to–Head: First Meeting
Jessica Bouzas Maneiro is the kind of player who wears her personality on her sleeve, and her grass-court credentials are more serious than her ranking implies, having reached the Nottingham quarterfinal just days ago.
Dudeney will have the crowd, the emotion, and the momentum of a season that keeps delivering; Bouzas Maneiro will have the poise of someone who has already stood in the game’s biggest matches and not blinked. Crowd noise does not break serves, and experience ultimately tends to outlast inspiration in the tightest moments; Bouzas Maneiro should edge through, but if Dudeney takes a set and Eastbourne rises, do not be surprised if this becomes the match of the day.
Prediction: Dudeney in 3
Zeynep Sonmez vs Harriet Dart
Head–to–Head: First Meeting
Zeynep Sönmez is the in-form player entering into this encounter, riding through the qualifiers on the back of a decent second-round showing in Nottingham last week, confirming that her grass-court game is no fluke.
Harriet Dart, meanwhile, brings the home-crowd advantage and a genuine affinity for this surface; grass is historically where she climbs the rankings, but in her previous match she was beaten by 17-year-old lucky loser Hannah Klugman in Nottingham, a result that speaks to a confidence fraying at the edges. With Dart having dropped 41 places since this time last year, the ranking gap is now considerable, and Sönmez’s superior serve, break-point aggression, and red-hot match sharpness should prove the decisive factors
Prediction: Sonmez in 2
Panna Udvardy vs Anna Bondar
Head–to–Head: Udvardy 0 – 1 Bondar
Two Hungarians walk onto the grass at Devonshire Park, but the resemblance ends at the passport. The critical distinction, however, lies not in passport or pride but in surface comfort: While both players have just won a single match on grass this season, the older Hungarian, Bondar, has won just twice in her career, and that number tells its own story. Udvardy is the better player on this surface, and she will find a way through in this one.
Prediction: Udvardy in 2
Barbara Krejcikova vs Kimberly Birrell
Head–to–Head: First Meeting
This is a fascinating matchup that puts a former Wimbledon champion’s fragile fitness against a qualifier’s emerging momentum. Krejčíková enters Eastbourne as the No. 4 seed, and her grass-court pedigree is beyond doubt, but the health question mark is large: at ‘s-Hertogenbosch last week, she withdrew from the final moments before it began, handing Robin Montgomery a walkover title. The Czech did, however, beat her way impressively through the draw before that, so her grass game is clicking when her body cooperates.
Birrell, too, is no pushover on this surface; she comes in with fresh legs and confidence after beating Peyton Stearns in qualifying here. The Australian will certainly test Krejčíková physically, and any lingering physical hesitancy from the Czech could prove decisive in extended rallies. That said, if Krejčíková is fit enough to compete fully, the class differential is simply too wide; her touch, variety, and big-match composure represent a ceiling Birrell has yet to breach at this level.
Prediction: Krejcikova in 2
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
