Though the dust has hardly settled at Wimbledon, where Ash Barty won a second Grand Slam title and Novak Djokovic a 20th, there is little time to reflect on the grass-court season with the return of clay and hard court tennis already underway, including at the WTA Budapest Grand Prix.
There should be plenty of entertaining action on day two in Hungary with ten matches on the slate and, as ever, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the slate including Varvara Lepchenko vs Ana Bogdan and Aliaksandra Sasnovich vs Timea Babos. But who will advance?
WTA Budapest Day 2 Predictions
Elisabetta Cocciaretto vs Reka-Luca Jani
Head-to-head: first meeting
Elisabetta Cocciaretto looks to be a player with a bright future, even if she may struggle to emulate the achievements of some of her compatriots in the men’s game. She certainly looked sharp in coming through the qualifying at the French Open with victories over Daria Snigur, Francesca Di Lorenzo and Wang Xiyu. But she was beaten in comfortable fashion by Ana Bogdan in the first round and has not played competitively since.
That said, she will still come into this match as the favourite. Reka-Luca Jani may have played more matches than the Italian since the French Open, but she has found relatively little success in that time and none at tour-level events. Indeed, there is a reason that she has never been ranked higher than world #147, a ranking she achieved nearly a decade ago. Cocciaretto has a rather higher ceiling. Expect her to demonstrate why here.
Prediction: Cocciaretto in 3
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Anhelina Kalinina vs Anna Kalinskaya
Head-to-head: Kalinina 1-0 Kalinskaya
This has the makings of an entertaining match. Anhelina Kalinina may have fallen just short in the Wimbledon qualifying, losing in the final round to Vitalia Diatchenko, but she has bounced back in superb style, winning back-to-back ITF titles in Montpellier and Contrexeville. The Ukrainian will surely be full of confidence coming into this tournament as a result, particularly as it does not boast the strongest draw likely to be found at WTA-level.
However, Anna Kalinskaya’s chances should not be entirely discounted. The Russian found some form to come through the qualifying at Wimbledon – although she did lose in the first round – and then reached the second round last time out at the WTA Swedish Open. But it is a concern that she was forced to retire in Bastad. Particularly when she is coming up against a player in such good form. Kalinina should be the player to reach the second round at the WTA Budapest Grand Prix.
Prediction: Kalinina in 2
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Aliona Bolsova vs Dalma Galfi
Head-to-head: first meeting
Dalma Galfi is another player who arrives at the WTA Budapest Grand Prix in good form. The Hungarian made the final in Contrexeville last time out, losing 2-6 2-6 there to Kalinina, and will be hoping to bounce back from that one-sided defeat on home turf. But she has not been handed the easiest draw, with Aliona Bolsova having reached the fourth round in 2019 and the second round at the US Open in her last two visits to New York. Galfi, in contrast, has never played in the main draw at a Major.
Bolsova also looks to have found some form after a disappointing stretch that saw her lose four matches in a row and crash out in the first round of qualifying at Roland Garros, snapping the unwanted streak by reaching the quarterfinals in Bastad. This looks like being a close contest, but the pressure will be on Galfi to perform and it is hard to ignore the Hungarian’s lack of experience at this level. That might just prove fatal to her chances in the vital moments.
Prediction: Bolsova in 3
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