We are halfway through the first WTA 500 tournament of the new season at the Brisbane International. Eight matches are on the slate on a busy Thursday to determine the eight quarterfinalists. As always, we here at LWOT have got every match covered in our daily predictions. We predict four of those matches in a separate article. But who do you think will advance?
WTA Brisbane Day 5 Predictions
Magda Linette vs Daria Kasatkina
Head-to-head: Kasatkina 3-2 Linette
Daria Kasatkina opened up her campaign with a fine 6-3, 6-4 win over Marta Kostyuk. Magda Linette, meanwhile, fended off Cristina Bucsa’s challenge to win in two tight sets. The Russian has won their last two head-to-head meetings, including their clash at the WTA Elite Trophy late last season, and is certainly the player with the higher ceiling right now.
Prediction: Kasatkina in 2
Arina Rodionova vs Mirra Andreeva
Head-to-head: first meeting
Russian teen prodigy Mirra Andreeva continued to punch above her weight and scored her first Top 20 win of the season on Wednesday. The 16-year-old stunned compatriot Liudmila Samsonova, who was surprisingly erratic throughout. She’ll play Arina Rodionova–the 34-year-old home wild card who has conquered Martina Trevisan and Sofia Kenin to reach the Round of 16. This is the Australian’s first top-level tournament in two years after recovering from a wrist injury in 2022 and painstakingly building her ranking on the ITF circuit last season. Andreeva is a streaky player, but her meteoric rise clearly reflects her talent. Expect the young Russian to end Rodionova’s fairytale run.
Prediction: Andreeva in 2
Karolina Pliskova vs Jelena Ostapenko
Head-to-head: Pliskova 5-5 Ostapenko
The new WTA season is barely a week old, and we already have a candidate for match of the year. Karolina Pliskova turned back time and played her best match in a while in a gusty win over the returning Naomi Osaka. There were 87 winners in total in the match, with Pliskova accounting for an astonishing 47 of those, including 16 aces. The big-serving Czech completed a great turnaround to win 3-6 7-6 6-4 to preserve her unbeaten run in Brisbane.
Jelena Ostapenko, meanwhile, won the battle of the heavy hitters, taking 80 minutes to sweep past Camila Giorgi 6-1 6-4. The head-to-head is tied at 5-5, with the power-hitting Latvian winning their last three hardcourt meetings. However, Pliskova is not the most decorated champion in Brisbane by accident, as she showcased in beating Osaka. The Czech also appears to have put her recent travails of a wrist problem to bed and should be favored to win.
Prediction: Pliskova in 3
Elena Rybakina vs Elise Mertens
Head-to-head: Rybakina 3-1 Mertens
Elena Rybakina ended the spirited run of home qualifier Olivia Gadecki. The Kazakh’s second serve proved to be the difference maker as Gadecki more than held her own in a tight first set. But once Rybakina stepped it up, she raced to the finish line. Elise Mertens, for her part, produced a come-from-behind victory against Sloane Stephens that took an hour and 43 minutes. Wins over Top 10 players were hard to come by for the Belgian last season and it is doubtful she’ll be able to address that record so early in the season against a player who excels at this time of the year.
Prediction: Rybakina in 2
Main Photo Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
