The WTA clay court season has moved to Stuttgart, Germany, for the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 500-level event. Some of the tour’s best have flocked to Stuttgart to compete in this 32-woman draw, including eight of the Top 10 players in the world. Monday’s slate is light, with just three main-draw singles matches. A Top 25 battle between Donna Vekic and Ekaterina Alexandrova will take place on centre court as the top matchup of the day. We at LWOT have the preview and prediction for that match and all other happenings around the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. But who will advance?
WTA Stuttgart Day 1 Predictions
Cristina Bucsa vs Tamara Korpatsch
Head-to-Head: Busca 2-1 Korpatsch
Cristina Bucsa and Tamara Korpatsch are set to square off in the first round in Stuttgart. These two met twice last year, splitting their encounters. Both women are currently ranked outside the top 75 and could go a long way in boosting their ranking with a strong showing in Stuttgart. Both players prefer the clay as their favorite surface and should be ready to play their best tennis on Monday. Bucsa picked up a quality win over Marie Bouzkova in Charleston, whereas Korpatsch has yet to win a match all year (0-9). I expect the German to raise her level in front of the home crowd, but it is tough to pick a player who has not won a match in over four months.
Prediction: Bucsa in 3
Alycia Parks vs Qinwen Zheng
Head-to-Head: Parks 1-0 Zheng
22-year-old Alycia Parks and 20-year-old Qinwen Zheng are set for a next-gen showdown on the courts of Stuttgart. Parks won their only previous meeting, 6-3 7-6, last year in Berlin. The American comes into this match having lost six of her last seven matches. She is finding trouble as she tries to transition into playing only tour-level events. Conversely, Zheng reached the second week in Miami and is 6-4 since the start of February. I expect these two to play high-level tennis on Monday featuring many drawn-out points. When it matters most, I trust Zheng to hold her consistency and force Parks into many unforced errors.
Prediction: Zheng in 3
Donna Vekic vs Ekaterina Alexandrova
Head-to-Head: Vekic 1-1 Alexandrova
Donna Vekic and Ekaterina Alexandrova are set for a Top 25 showdown on Monday in Stuttgart. The two have split their only previous meetings, with their most recent encounter going Alexandrova’s way back in 2020. After a strong start to the season, Vekic won just one match during the Sunshine Double. Monday’s encounter will be her first clay match of the season. Alexandrova is coming off a quarterfinal run in Charleston. Although she does not have the strongest history on the clay, she did not look out of place in Charleston. Neither one of these players prefers this surface, so I expect a relatively sloppy match with high unforced error counts from both women. In the end, Alexandrova is the slightly more consistent player and should put enough pressure on the Vekic serve to break through.
Prediction: Alexandrova in 3
Main Photo Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
