Day 3 at the WTA 1000 event in Rome will feature several exciting matches, with Round 2 of the top half of the draw being played. Among the star studded lineup is Coco Gauff, who will be making her tournament debut this Thursday, looking to get into top form ahead of Roland Garros.
WTA Rome Day 3 Predictions
Linda Noskova vs Lucrezia Stefanini
Head-to-head: first meeting
The 29th seed has been struggling ever since her fantastic win over Iga Swiatek in Melbourne and her clay campaign has been very lackluster thus far. However, she’s lucky enough to have drawn one of the lowest ranked players in the draw, #179 Lucrezia Stefanini, so regardless of her struggles she should be able to pull through here.
Prediction: Noskova in 3
Elina Avanesyan vs Jaqueline Cristian
Head-to-head: first meeting
Ranking and level wise, it’s perhaps the closest match of the day, with nothing to really separate the two players. Cristian is somewhat lucky to find herself in this round as she lost in qualifying but is replacing a seed in the draw as a lucky loser so she is directly into the second round. She might just be able to take advantage of this opportunity to make a run here.
Prediction: Cristian in 3
Ana Bogdan vs Marketa Vondrousova
Head-to-head: Vondrousova 1-1 Bogdan
Vondrousva hasn’t been having a good season so far, with several disappointing runs and only really her run to the Stuttgart semifinals as a good run for the level of player that she is. She remains, however, one of the world’s best players and should be able to overcome Bogdan here and make it to the next round.
Prediction: Vondrousova in 3
Coco Gauff vs Magdalena Frech
Head-to-head: Gauff 1-0 Frech
Gauff has been disappointing so far this clay season, but with the level that she showed in previous years she is definitely one of the favorites at Roland Garros and this is her last chance to gain some momentum ahead of it. When the pair faced earlier this year at the Australian Open, Gauff won in very straightforward fashion and the same should happen here.
Prediction: Gauff in 2
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
