There are potential upsets in store on Day 3 of the WTA Seoul Open, prime among those being Kimberly Birrell’s match against #7 seed Tatjana Maria. As always, we here at LWOT have every match covered in our daily predictions. Who will reach the quarterfinals?
WTA Seoul Day 3 Predictions
Tatjana Maria vs Kimberly Birrell
Head-to-head: first meeting
Birrell has been somewhat of a forgotten story of Australian tennis in the past 12 months after a promising start to life on the WTA Tour three years ago. She hit rock bottom at the turn of the year, with her ranking inching closer to four digits. But after a long, gradual climb up the ladder, Birrell will swiftly return to the world’s top 300 next week. If we went with the formbook in 2022, you would expect Tatjana Maria to outwit Birrell in this matchup. But despite what the odds suggest, the Aussie has a fighting chance to record the upset.
Prediction: Birrell in 3
Zhu Lin vs Ankita Raina
Head-to-head: Lin 4-1 Raina
Zhu Lin won this tournament last year when it was a WTA 125K level event. The field is significantly stronger this time. The Chinese world #70 has a treacherous path to defend her crown although she enjoyed a cushy opening-round win over Jang Su Jeong. Lin will likely be favored to cruise past Ankita Raina – an opponent she has defeated four times in five meetings on the ITF tour.
Prediction: Lin in 3
Magda Linette vs Arianne Hartono
Head-to-head: first meeting
Linette’s wounds are still fresh from that gutwrenching defeat to Linda Fruhvirtova in the Chennai final. She blew a 4-1 lead in the final set of that match, but there was little she could have done against an opponent whose talent and resilience was off the charts. She has taken a couple of days to process that loss and I think her opening match in Seoul offers some room for respite. Hartono has not won a main draw match in three months and was soundly beaten by Katie Swan in Chennai last week. Expect the Polish No. 2 player to advance.
Prediction: Linette in 2
Ekaterina Alexandrova vs Han Na-lae
Head-to-head: first meeting
Alexandrova was surprisingly pushed to a third set in her first-round match against Asia Muhammad but eventually polished up her first serve to carve out a deserved win. The Russian has a favorable draw this week with the highest-ranked player she could face before the final being world #84 Varvara Gracheva. Alexandrova has a seemingly innocuous second-round match against South Korea’s Han Na-lae. The second seed is a sizable favorite here and should overpower the unheralded home wildcard.
Prediction: Alexandrova in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
