The top two seeds – Garbine Muguruza and Aryna Sabalenka – finally take to the court in Moscow on Wednesday. The high quality of tennis so far in Russia means the pair haven’t been missed too badly. Nonetheless, having two of the better players in the women’s game joining the fray will surely add to the excitement. As ever, we do our best to pick the day’s winners and losers in our WTA Kremlin Cup day three predictions.
WTA Kremlin Cup Day 3 Predictions
Anhelina Kalinina vs Ekaterina Alexandrova
Head-to-head: 1 – 0 Alexandrova
Ekaterina Alexandrova benefited from the retirement of Ons Jabeur to advance to the second round. Nonetheless, the Russian looked superb in the first set and will be a real threat to all comers if she can maintain that level. Anhelina Kalinina was equally superb in dismantling former Kremlin Cup champion Daria Kasatkina in straight sets in her first match. Alexandrova has the bigger game of these two players, which gives her an advantage on the quick courts in Moscow. However, Kalinina is more consistent and that could be enough if Alexandrova starts spraying errors. The match is on the Russian’s racket so I must give her the edge here, but this should be a tight one and an upset wouldn’t surprise me.
Prediction: Alexandrova in 2
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Garbine Muguruza vs Tereza Martincova
Head-to-head: First meeting
Muguruza suffered a first round defeat in Indian Wells that surprised many a tennis fan. However, she was coming off a title run in Chicago the week before and the slow courts in ‘Tennis Paradise’ don’t reward her ball striking as much as faster surfaces do. Still, she will be determined to right ship here. The Spaniard won’t find it easy to do so given she faces an in form Tereza Martincova in the first round. The Czech finally broke into the top 100 this year and has looked a real threat all season on hard courts. However, as aggressive and powerful as Martincova is, Muguruza can match and exceed her in pretty much every area of the game bar court coverage. On courts that reward power and aggression, the Spaniard looks a real contender to lift the trophy. This might go three sets, but Muguruza should emerge the victor.
Prediction: Muguruza in 3
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Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Bernarda Pera
Head-to-head: First meeting
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is another player in this draw having a career year in 2021. The Russian finally made a Grand Slam final at the French Open. A string of similarly solid results mean she is set to finish inside the top 20 at year end for the first time since 2017. By contrast, Bernarda Pera has tumbled to 100 in the world and has had a torrid time of things this year. The American has nothing to point to by way of significant results in 2021 and will struggle to change that narrative here. Given the form and confidence difference between these two, I can really only see one outcome here. The Russian moves on.
Prediction: Pavlyuchenkova in 2
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Aryna Sabalenka vs Ajla Tomljanovic
Head-to-head: 3 – 1 Sabalenka
Ajla Tomljanovic looked good in dismissing Liudmila Samsonova last round. Still, she will have to be a whole lot better if she is to topple top seed Sabalenka here in Moscow. The Belarusian is currently the second-best player in women’s tennis and is particularly dangerous on fast hard courts. Her power is immense off both wings and her serve is equally terrifying. When firing on all cylinders she has swept aside all comers not named Ashleigh Barty in 2021 with relative ease. Tomljanovic is a good player, but she is not of that ilk and simply doesn’t have the weapons to hurt Sabalenka. If the Belarusian takes a while to find her range then the Aussie may steal a set, but I can’t see her winning this.
Prediction: Sabalenka in 2
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