Expect plenty of entertaining tennis on day two at the WTA Guadalajara Open with 16 matches on the schedule in Mexico. As always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the slate, including Beatriz Haddad Maia vs Katerina Siniakova, Marta Kostyuk vs Maria Sakkari and Elena Rybakina vs Karolina Pliskova. But who will come out on top?
WTA Guadalajara Day 2 Predictions
Lauren Davis vs Jelena Ostapenko
Head-to-head: Davis 2-2 Ostapenko
This pair have contested a closely fought rivalry, having split their four previous meetings with two wins apiece. But it is surely Lauren Davis who comes into this match as the favourite. The American looked sharp in the qualifying, getting the better Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Nao Hibino, dropping just 11 games across the two matches, and she has also reached the quarterfinals at two of the last three tournaments she has played, though one of those quarterfinals was at a WTA 125k event.
Jelena Ostapenko reached the final in Seoul, but she has had few other causes for celebration of late and comes into the WTA Guadalajara Open having lost her last three matches after suffering back-to-back first-round exits in Tallinn and Ostrava. Of course, Ostapenko being Ostapenko, she could still win this match and handily, but Davis seems the likelier winner given their respective form. The American also beat Ostapenko in their most recent meeting earlier this year on the clay in Rome.
Prediction: Davis in 3
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Anna Kalinskaya vs Barbora Krejcikova
Head-to-head: first meeting
It has been a difficult few weeks for Anna Kalinskaya. The Russian made an early exit at the US Open and was then forced to retire trailing 1-4 to Ellen Perez in the second round of qualifying in San Diego. Krejcikova, in contrast, will surely be full of confidence after her memorable run to the title on home turf in Ostrava which culminated in a battling three-set victory over world #1 Iga Swiatek in the final. Her game is probably better suited to the indoor conditions in Ostrava than those in Guadalajara, but this is still a very winnable match for her on paper. Expect the Czech to take advantage.
Prediction: Krejcikova in 2
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Shelby Rogers vs Martina Trevisan
Head-to-head: first meeting
Martina Trevisan had another excellent season on the clay, putting together a quite remarkable run at the French Open where she reached the semifinals as well as winning the title in Rabat. But wins away from the clay have proven hard to come by. In fact, since Roland Garros, she has won just three matches and two of those were played on clay in Budapest. That does not inspire much confidence ahead of this clash with the hard-hitting Shelby Rogers.
The American remains frustratingly inconsistent, but when she is on song she is an extremely destructive player. Particularly on her preferred hard courts. That said, she does not have much form behind her coming into the WTA Guadalajara having lost in the first round in Tallinn and Ostrava. That rather suggests that she will not be going deep into the draw in Mexico this week, but expect her to get the better of Trevisan all the same.
Prediction: Rogers in 2#
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Daria Kasatkina vs Zhu Lin
Head-to-head: first meeting
Daria Kasatkina is another player who has had a rather strange season. It has not been without successes by any stretch of the imagination, with the Russian picking up two WTA titles and 39 wins, but she has blown rather hot and cold, particularly over the summer and autumn. She won the title in San Jose and Granby, but lost in the first round in Toronto, Cincinnati and New York, as well as exiting in the second round in Ostrava and San Diego.
This should be a winnable match, however. Zhu Lin has had a solid enough season, highlighted by her achieving a career-high ranking of world #63 last month. However, the majority of her success has come at ITF-level. Her first-round win over Alize Cornet this week in Guadalajara was a very fine effort and she played well enough to suggest that she can keep this competitive. But against a player of Kasatkina’s ability, that might have to be the limit of her ambition.
Prediction: Kasatkina in 3
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