It’s a fascinating slate of women’s matches on Monday at the WTA Rome event with a number of star names set to take to the court – including multiple Grand Slam champions. As ever, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match, including Coco Gauff vs Emma Raducanu. But who will make the quarterfinals?
WTA Rome Day 7 Predictions
Diana Shnaider vs Elise Mertens
Head-to-head: Mertens 2-0 Shnaider
Elise Mertens recently defeated Diana Shnaider in Stuttgart and at that point, you could easily be disappointed with how this season has worked out for the young Russian. But now she seems to be back on track with the fourth-round runs in Madrid and Rome. In Spain she met Iga Swiatek at this stage of the event, but at WTA Rome the draw has been a little more helpful. Mertens is always a difficult opponent to face as she just doesn’t go below a certain level, but Shnaider’s got the higher upside and should have the edge here.
Prediction: Shnaider in 3
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Naomi Osaka vs Peyton Stearns
Head-to-head: first meeting
Naomi Osaka dropping down to the WTA 125 level turned out to be a brilliant move as the Japanese is now on a winning streak and has plenty of momentum and confidence – which makes her a dangerous opponent. Last season she also worked a lot on her clay movement, which allowed her to come so close to defeating Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros. While Peyton Stearns is undoubtedly a dangerous player when her heavy forehand gets hot, it’s just tough to pick against Osaka right now as she seems to be finding a way even when things aren’t clicking for her.
Prediction: Osaka in 3
Bianca Andreescu vs Zheng Qinwen
Head-to-head: Zheng 1-0 Andreescu
Zheng Qinwen needs a big result right now as while she’s still in the top 10 based on her points from late last year, this season has been pretty unremarkable for her. Conditions in Rome are pretty nice for her game and it makes sense that she’s finding something here. But Bianca Andreescu is obviously an elite talent too and if it wasn’t for her difficulty in staying injury free, she’d still be at the top of the game. This should be a good battle and the nod should probably go to Zheng for just being in better match rhythm and more used to having a few encounters in one week.
Prediction: Zheng in 3
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Clara Tauson vs Mirra Andreeva
Head-to-head: Andreeva 2-0 Tauson
Mirra Andreeva has already picked up two WTA 1000 titles this season and she defeated Clara Tauson at both events – first in the final of Dubai, then in the third round at Indian Wells. Clay might make it even easier for her to defend against the big-hitting of the Dane, so is there anything Tauson can do here? Andreeva just has so many options on the court and if she doesn’t get lost in all of them, she probably exposes the movement advantage and outplays Tauson in the longer points.
Prediction: Andreeva in 2
Main photo credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
