The 2019 Zhengzhou Open attracted four top ten players. Elina Svitolina will be the first to take the court when she steps out on day two of competition to take on Yulia Putintseva. We also have a second set of predictions for you with the rest of the day’s matches.
WTA Zhengzhou Open Day 2 Predictions
Ajla Tomljanovic vs Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove
Ajla Tomljanovic has had terrible luck on the WTA tour. She has played in four finals and lost them all. In a sign of her continued good form, one of Tomljanovic’s four finals losses was earlier this year at the Thailand Open where she fell in three sets to Dayana Yastremska. Her opponent, Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove, has blazed a path through qualifying but a player like Tomljanovic is a tough ask as a first round opponent. Kerkhove, who has never been above 159 in the world, has still triumphed where Tomljanovic has not, winning a WTA title at the 2017 Luxembourg Open. Tomljanovic is still likely to win, but the matchup is fascinating and the two have never played each other on tour before.
Tomljanovic in 3.
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Bibiane Schoofs vs Saisai Zheng
Bibiane Schoofs and Saisai Zheng have played three times, once in 2012 and twice in 2018. Schoofs won their first meeting, on grass at Wimbledon, but their two most recent contests went to Zheng, both in straight sets. Zheng is currently ranked 38 in the world but her most recent match was a 1-6, 0-6 drubbing at the hands of Venus Williams. That loss in the first round of the US Open means that Zheng will be fresh and ready for a deep run at the Zhengzhou Open. Schoofs has struggled in recent years and is currently ranked just outside the world’s top 150.
Zheng in 2.
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Elina Svitolina vs Yulia Putintseva
Fresh from the US Open semifinals, Elina Svitolina will have a stern test against Yulia Putintseva. The pair have played five times before, with Svitolina winning all but one of those encounters. That loss was their first match, a three set epic contested seven years ago in Dubai. In 2015 the two played another epic at the French Open where Svitolina eked out victory at 9-7 in the third set. Their two most recent meetings in 2015 and 2016 were simple straight sets wins for Svitolina and, provided she is not too fatigued from her run at the US Open, there is no reason to expect anything different in Zhengzhou.
Svitolina in 2.
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