WTA tennis returns to Istanbul for the 2020 edition of the WTA Istanbul Cup. There is no shortage of star quality in the field this week and with the French Open looming large on the horizon, every player in the draw will surely be determined to build some valuable momentum. We here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on Tuesday, including Heather Watson vs Sara Sorribes Tormo. But who will reach the second round?
WTA Istanbul Cup Tuesday Predictions
Qualifying
Eugenie Bouchard vs Leonie Kung
Head-to-head: first meeting
Former-world #5 Eugenie Bouchard will continue her attempts to return to the top of the women’s game at the WTA Istanbul Cup. The Canadian recently reached the quarterfinals at the WTA International Prague Open and impressed in beating Ivana Jorovic of Serbia in the first round of qualifying in Turkey’s second city. But she may need to be at her best up against Switzerland’s Leonie Kung, who was a finalist at the Hua Hin Championships earlier this year.
Kung also had a good couple of weeks in Prague, first reaching the second round at the Prague Open as a qualifier before reaching the third round at the WTA 125k event staged in the Czech capital a week later. Kung then is not to be underestimated, with the Swiss a player who looks certain to have a bright future in the game. But Bouchard has shown enough over the past few weeks to suggest that she will be the one to reach the main draw.
Prediction: Bouchard in 2
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Harriet Dart vs Ellen Perez
Head-to-head: first meeting
Harriet Dart looks like a bright prospect, but she has struggled to find her best tennis since the season resumed in July. She lost early at the WTA 125k event in Prague and in her opening match at the WTA Istanbul Cup she pushed to three-sets by world #430 Basak Eraydin. Ellen Perez, meanwhile, elected to focus principally on her doubles career in 2020, but was handed a place in the singles qualifying draw in Istanbul as an alternate.
She took full advantage of that good fortune, beating her higher-ranked compatriot Arina Rodionova in straight sets to set up this second-round clash with Dart. But will the Australian be able to get the better of Dart? It should be a close contest, but Dart is ranked 101 places above Perez for a reason and has played a lot more singles lately. Dart will need to improve on her performance against Eraydin, but she should have enough to advance.
Prediction: Dart in 3
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First Round
Anna Karolina Schmiedlova vs Kaja Juvan
Head-to-head: first meeting
Anna Karolina Schmiedlova played a number of exhibition matches on the clay whilst the season was suspended, picking up some creditable wins. And she arrives at the WTA Istanbul Cup in reasonably good form after reaching the quarterfinals at the WTA 125k event in Prague last week, where she fell just short against Elisabetta Cocciaretto, losing to the eventual finalist in three sets. She will now surely be targeting another deep run in Turkey.
Her opponent, Kaja Juvan, enters the WTA Istanbul Cup having only recently returned from the US Open, where she reached the second round before losing to the 14th seed Anett Kontaveit in straight sets. Juvan has a good record on clay and has posted some good results on the surface since the season resumed, including reaching the second round in Palermo as a qualifier. But she will have had little time to readjust to the clay and is coming up against an experienced opponent in Schmiedlova.
Prediction: Schmiedlova in 3
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Jasmine Paolini vs Stefanie Voegele
Head-to-head: first meeting
Both players had a difficult time inside the bubble in New York, with either managing to win a match at either the Western and Southern Open or the US Open. But of the two, Jasmine Paolini will likely be the happier to be back on the ‘terre battue’. The Italian has enjoyed the best results of her career on the clay, although she has struggled since the season resumed, picking up just one win in three matches. Stefanie Voegele, however, has not even played a match on clay in 2020. Expect Paolini’s greater affinity for the clay, at least in recent times, to give the Italian the decisive edge.
Prediction: Paolini in 2
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