After an exciting Day 1 that included Lin Zhu taking out third seed Xiyu Wang, there is more first-round WTA action coming from Hua Hin. As always, we at LWOT will preview and predict every match. We split the rest of the day’s matches between two other articles. One features Bianca Andreescu vs Harriet Dart, and the second highlights Heather Watson vs Yulia Putintseva. Who will be victorious on one of the most beautiful courts on tour tomorrow?
WTA Hua Hin Day 2 Predictions
Valeria Savinykh vs Nao Hibino
Head-to-head: first meeting
Savinykh skipped Australia to start the season, opting to play a series of ITF 40 tournaments in Thailand and India, going 12-4. The Russian reached a final and two semifinals before coming back to Thailand and qualifying past Xinyu Gao and Natalija Stevanovic. Hibino has been good in 2023 as well, beating Coco Vandeweghe and Jacqueline Cristian in Auckland before a strong showing in Melbourne. The 28-year-old won two difficult battles in Australian Open qualifying, defeating Louisa Chirico and Mirjam Bjorklund in deciding-set tiebreaks before losing out to Cristina Bucsa. Hibino’s level has been high enough to deal with players like Savinykh comfortably at the moment.
Prediction: Hibino in 2
Elena-Gabriela Ruse vs Na-Lae Han
Head-to-head: Ruse 1-0 Han
Ruse started the season very well in Auckland, stringing three wins before losing to a resurgent Karolina Muchova in the second round after qualifying. In Melbourne, the Romanian defeated Seone Mendez in three sets but lost to Sara Jancijevic. Han has had a worse time in 2023, opening her season with a rough loss against Katie Boulter, only winning one game. The Korean got her only win over Viktoria Kuzmova but lost to Anastasia Tikhonova in Australian Open qualifying. Ruse won their previous meeting 7-5 7-5 in the semifinals of an ITF 25 in Yokohama back in 2019, which makes her a decent favorite alongside her current form.
Prediction: Ruse in 2
Anna Kalinskaya vs Ekaterina Makarova
Head-to-head: first meeting
Kalinskaya could challenge for her first title here, coming in as the fourth seed. The 24-year-old is 3-3 on the season but with really strong performances. The Russian had a match point over Linda Noskova in Adelaide qualifying, losing 9-7 in the third-set tiebreak. Kalinskaya got to show her qualities more in Adelaide 2, this time winning a third-set tiebreaker in qualifying over Aliaksandra Sasnovich before taking out Alison Riske and Jelena Ostapenko. Kalinskaya also played well in Melbourne, pushing Danielle Collins to 6-4 in the third. Makarova is a level before at this point in her career and I expect her to be just the first of a number of opponents Kalinskaya will beat in Hua Hin this week.
Prediction: Kalinskaya in 2
Marta Kostyuk vs En Shuo Liang
Head-to-head: first meeting
Fifth seed Kostyuk could also be a title contender in Hua Hin, going 6-3 in Australia to start the year. The Ukrainian defeated soon-to-be Australian Open finalist Elena Rybakina en route to a quarterfinal in Adelaide, starting in qualifying. In Melbourne, Kostyuk took out Amanda Anisimova and Olivia Gadecki before losing to Jessica Pegula in the third round. Liang took the Asian ITF 40s route to start her year but struggled. The Taiwanese player went 2-4 before Hua Hin qualifying, where she finally won back-to-back matches over Kathinka Von Deichmann and Ipek Oz. Kostyuk should be winning here.
Prediction: Kostyuk in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
