Well, top seeds didn’t wait around to start tumbling in Rome. As soon as I pointed out they were holding their own so far this week, we lost Karolina Pliskova, Simona Halep, Garbine Muguruza and Anett Kontaveit. All four are big names who were serious contenders here. Will that trend continue in Thursday’s matches? Well, we take a look at exactly that in this set of WTA Rome day 4 predictions.
WTA Rome Day 3 Predictions
Jil Teichmann vs Elena Rybakina
Head-to-head: 1 – 0 Teichmann
Jil Teichmann has found a rich vein of form on the red dirt in Europe. She toppled world #6 Pliskova in her last round and looks set for another deep run here in Rome. Elena Rybakina is no slouch of course, and the Kazakh shouldn’t be taken lightly given her level of play this week. However, these two met last week in Madrid and Teichmann eased to a straight sets win there. She is also far more comfortable on clay than Rybakina. The Swiss lefty showed yesterday that she can move big hitters around and throw them off their games. If she does that again here Rybakina will come up short once again.
Prediction: Teichmann in 2
Ons Jabeur vs Yulia Putintseva
Head-to-head: 2 – 0 Jabeur
As expected, Yulia Putintseva dug her heels in and dug out a big win against Garbine Muguruza in her last match. That win will fill her with confidence heading into this match. However, that confidence is likely misplaced here. Ons Jabeur is fresh of her first WTA 1000 title and looks in fine form in Rome. She has also beaten the Kazakh soundly in their previous two encounters. One of those was at the French Open last year which is recent enough to be a good indicator here. Expect Putintseva to be as dogged and competitive as ever here, but she should fall short in the end to the more talented Tunisian in the end.
Prediction: Jabeur in 2
Coco Gauff vs Maria Sakkari
Head-to-head: 3 -1 Sakkari
Those of you who follow my predictions will have a sneaky suspicion of where this is going. However, I have valid reason to be high on a Maria Sakkari win here. The Greek has only dropped on set to Coco Gauff across their four meetings. She was also brilliant in dismantling an in-form Ekaterina Alexandrova in the last round. However, Gauff won their matchup here last year and will take confidence from that. Gauff is a serious talent and if both of these players are at their best this should be a brilliant match. Sakkari is the more polished of the two, and has shown in recent months that she has what it takes to go deep in big tournaments. I expect more of the same here, though she will be pushed in this match,
Prediction: Sakkari in 3
Iga Swiatek vs Victoria Azarenka
Head-to-head: 1 – 1
It’s rare that the world #1 meets a top twenty player and you struggle to find a way to justify the match being close. That appears to be the case here though. Victoria Azarenka’s play has improved markedly in recent weeks after some worrying moments on the court. However, she is still not at her best and is also not as comfortable on clay as she is on hard courts. Add that to the fact that she has to try and stop the buzz saw that is Iga Swiatek and it’s hard to hold out much hope. Azarenka will have to make first serves at a very high level just to keep this close. Even then, she has little to trouble the Polish star with and I can’t see this going beyond two sets baring a collapse of epic proportions from Swiatek. It’s hard to see that happening in our WTA Rome day 4 headline match, so I’m going with Swiatek here.
Prediction: Swiatek in 2
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