Day three at the WTA Phillip Island Trophy should see plenty of entertaining action, with a number of star names set to take to the court. As ever, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the slate in Melbourne, including Bianca Andreescu vs Zarina Diyas. But who will make the quarterfinals?
WTA Phillip Island Trophy Day Three Predictions
Petra Martic vs Kimberly Birrell
Head-to-head: first meeting
Petra Martic’s battling first-round win over Rebecca Marino was surely most welcome for the Croatian, who has been struggling of late. Indeed, it was just her second win of the season after a second-round exit at the WTA Yarra Valley Classic and a first-round loss at the Australian Open. But she may well have to work hard for a place in the quarterfinals up against Kimberly Birrell, with the Australian having played some fine tennis on home soil.
She opened her WTA Phillip Island Trophy campaign with an excellent 6-2 7-5 win over Alize Cornet, the 15th seed, and she backed that up by beating Ankita Raina in three sets in the second round. But the Australian remains inexperienced at this level and has never been ranked inside the top 150. If Martic, having got back to winning ways, can maintain the level she showed against Marino in the second round, she should prove too strong for the 22-year-old Birrell.
Prediction: Martic in 3
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Jil Teichmann vs Patricia Maria Tig
Head-to-head: first meeting
One imagines that both Jil Teichmann and Patricia Maria Tig will have been disappointed by their showings at the Australian Open. Both crashed out in the first round, at the hands of Cori Gauff and Sorana Cirstea respectively, with neither winning more than a handful of games. But, both have bounced back impressively at the WTA Phillip Island Trophy and will surely be determined to continue their turnaround by reaching the quarterfinals.
Teichmann reached the third round with victories over Mihaela Buzarnescu, despite dropping the first set, and Monica Niculescu, whilst Tig has beaten Lesia Tsurenko and Francesca Jones so far this week. Both have played well enough to suggest that their first meeting will be a closely contested match, but Teichmann has the slightly higher ceiling. If she can find her best tennis, or something close to it, expect her to have just about too much for Tig.
Prediction: Teichmann in 3
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Marie Bouzkova vs Gabriella Da Silva Fick
Head-to-head: first meeting
Marie Bouzkova may well be another player who arrived at the WTA Phillip Island Trophy disappointed by her effort at the Australian Open. The Czech lost in the first round, albeit to the fifth seed Elina Svitolina, failing to add her to sole win in the main draw at a Major, which she picked up two years ago at Wimbledon. She looked to be facing another early exit when she lost the first set to Danka Kovinic in the first round, but the Montenegrin retired trailing 0-5 in the second set.
Bouzkova, who also reached the third round at the WTA Yarra Valley Classic, took full advantage of her good fortune by dismissing Zhu Lin in the second round. Gabriella Da Silva Fick, meanwhile, scored one of the wins of her career by beating Aliaksandra Sasnovich in a third-set tiebreak in the second round after a bye in the first. But maintaining that level may prove to be a challenge for the world #566, who has played very little tennis at this level. Expect Bouzkova to reach the quarterfinals.
Prediction: Bouzkova in 2
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Daria Kasatkina vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Head-to-head: Kasatkina 2-1 Pavlyuchenkova
This will be the fourth meeting between Daria Kasatkina and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, but curiously enough the first to be contested outside of Moscow. Of their three previous battles in the Russian capital, it is Kasatkina who has the edge, beating her compatriot in 2017 and 2018 in straight sets to avenge a semifinal defeat in 2015. And she arrives into this match in good form, with this the third time she has reached the round of 16 in her last four tournaments.
Pavlyuchenkova’s returns have not been quite so consistent, but she has played some solid tennis so far in 2021 and impressed in beating Ajla Tomljanovic in three sets in her opener at the WTA Phillip Island Trophy. Nonetheless, this is a matchup that Kasatkina has previously enjoyed and although she is struggling to return to the lofty heights she scaled in 2017 and 2018, she does look to be getting back to her best. Expect that to continue at Pavlyuchenkova’s expense here.
Prediction: Kasatkina in 3
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