It’s the third day of the WTA 1000 in Rome and some of the tournament’s seeds are playing their first matches. In the battle of this decade’s active Australian Open winners, Aryna Sabalenka looks to continue her Madrid form against Sofia Kenin whilst this year’s Australian Open semifinalist Magda Linette comes up against up-and-comer Linda Noskova. We’ve tried to predict these exciting matches and more on this day of second round action. We predict all of the day’s matches, split between four articles. One features Victoria Azarenka vs Sloane Stephens, the second headlines Jessica Pegula vs Taylor Townsend, and the third features Coco Gauff vs Yulia Putintseva.
WTA Rome Day 3 Predictions
Irina-Camelia Begu vs Xiyu Wang
Head-to-head: First meeting
Irina-Camelia Begu had a very underrated run last week in Madrid. Three consecutive wins over Rogers, Muchova and Samsonova sees her back in the top 30. A lot of her success there was stemmed from the altitude, however, holding serve with relative ease.
It won’t be so easy in Rome, and Wang Xiyu will be there to challenge the Romanian if the serve isn’t winning her free points. Still, Begu was good enough from the back of the court in Madrid, off of both wings, that she should feel confident dealing with that biting lefty forehand from the Chinese.
Prediction: Begu in 3
Magda Linette vs Linda Noskova
Head-to-head: First meeting
For someone with such great movement, clay has never been Magda Linette’s strongest surface. Her counterpunching ability relies on the wrong shots from her opponents, taking advantage by redirecting into the open space. With the court so slow though, her lack of serve and pace on the counterpunches can be exposed.
Linda Noskova conversely has the game to hit through the conditions. She’s quickly establishing herself as a threat on most surfaces and, though there will be the odd waver, she should be too much of a threat here.
Prediction: Noskova in 3
Anhelina Kalinina vs Anna Blinkova
Head-to-head: Blinkova 5-1 Kalinina
It’s hard to ignore the startling head-to-head in favour of Anna Blinkova. Six times Blinkova’s met Anhelina Kalinina and five times she’s come out the victor. Still, they haven’t played on clay since 2019 and Kalinina has constantly been improving in that time.
Blinkova’s pace will be slightly slower than usual and Kalinina will be able to access angles on the court that others can’t with her fantastic open-stance backhand. There is obviously something about Blinkova’s ball that bothers Kalinina but we think she’s made enough improvements to get the win.
Prediction: Kalinina in 3
Sofia Kenin vs Aryna Sabalenka
Head-to-head: Sabalenka 2-0 Kenin
Sofia Kenin could step up here. She’s had five Top 50 wins this year alone and has went down fighting in close matches to established players like Elena Rybakina and Coco Gauff. She has the capability to play above her ranking of #134.
Unfortunately, she’s been given a very rough draw. Even if Kenin manages to find a fairly high level, it won’t trump Aryna Sabalenka’s confidence at the moment. The American’s best can’t keep up with the omnipotent game of the Belarusian’s. Unless Sabalenka has a properly off-day, she’ll have to wait for a kinder draw at a different tournament.
Prediction: Sabalenka in 2
Main Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
