{"id":108789,"date":"2026-07-20T15:25:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T19:25:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=108789"},"modified":"2026-07-20T15:26:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T19:26:08","slug":"wta-prague-day-2-predictions-gao-tagger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2026\/07\/20\/wta-prague-day-2-predictions-gao-tagger\/","title":{"rendered":"WTA Prague Day 2 Predictions Including Xinyu Gao vs Lilli Tagger"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tennis never stops, as this week we are back on the hard courts. Although the North American hard-court swing has yet to officially begin, tournaments such as this one in Prague<\/a> offer a great opportunity for players looking to build momentum and pick up match wins. As always, we here at LWOT will be predicting every match on Day 2, but who do you think will advance?<\/p>\n

WTA Prague Day 2 Predictions<\/h2>\n

Diane Parry vs Mai Hontama<\/h4>\n

Head-to-head:<\/strong> Parry 2-1 Hontama<\/p>\n

Both of these players are familiar with each other, as this will be their fourth meeting on Tour. Mai Hontama\u2019s counterpunching abilities were on full display during qualifying, as she comfortably reached the main draw, but Diane Parry will represent a significant step up in competition. If the Frenchwoman uses her variety from the back of the court and returns well, I expect her to come through this match.
\nPrediction: Parry in 2<\/em><\/p>\n

Maria Timofeeva vs Aliaksandra Sasnovich<\/h4>\n

Head-to-head:<\/strong> Sasnovich 2-0 Timofeeva<\/p>\n

This match will be a contrast in styles, as Aliaksandra Sasnovich\u2019s experience and unpredictable baseline game take on Maria Timofeeva\u2019s aggressive, flat-hitting style. The key to this matchup will once again be how well Sasnovich can disrupt Timofeeva\u2019s contact points and turn the contest into a tactical battle rather than an exchange of pure power. Although I think Timofeeva will make this difficult, Sasnovich has enjoyed enough success in this matchup for me to back her in a close contest.
\nPrediction: Sasnovich in 3<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n

Nikola Bartunkova vs Yuan Yue<\/h4>\n

Head-to-head:<\/strong> First meeting<\/p>\n

Against the more complete player, Yuan Yue will look to use her aggressive game to take the racket out of Nikola Bartunkova\u2019s hands, dictating play with her powerful forehand. But Bartunkova is known for her all-court skills, and if she can match Yue from the baseline, her greater variety is likely to prove the deciding factor in securing the victory.
\nPrediction: Bartunkova in 2<\/em><\/p>\n

Laura Samson vs Maya Joint<\/h4>\n

Head-to-head:<\/strong> First Meeting<\/p>\n

After a positive season last year, Maya Joint has endured a disappointing campaign so far, struggling for both wins and confidence. However, she did pick up a significant victory over Serena Williams at Wimbledon<\/a>, which should give her some belief. Against Laura Samson, this match will come down to whether the Australian can counterpunch effectively enough to get Samson off her baseline rhythm. Samson has the game to trouble a player short on wins, but ultimately I think Joint is the more solid player and should come through in a tight three-set match.
\nPrediction: Joint in 3<\/em><\/p>\n

Xinyu Gao vs Lilli Tagger<\/h4>\n

Head-to-head:<\/strong> Tagger 1-0 Gao<\/p>\n

On the back of her endurance and grit from the baseline, Xinyu Gao did exceptionally well to reach the main draw. Her next challenge is Lilli Tagger, a young player who has shown glimpses of her talent throughout the past year. While Gao has the ability to make this a frustrating match for Tagger, I think the Austrian\u2019s superior ball quality and groundstrokes, particularly her one-handed backhand, will see her through to the next round.
\nPrediction: Tagger in 3<\/em><\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: Andy Abeyta\/The Desert Sun \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tennis never stops, as this week we are back on the hard courts. Although the North American hard-court swing has yet to officially begin, tournaments such as this one in Prague offer a great opportunity for players looking to build momentum and pick up match wins. As always, we here at LWOT will be predicting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5608,"featured_media":108802,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[888,15723,12589,15695,42281,42280,43404,43405,16876,16877,19021,19022,42392,42393,17546,17547,2373,2369,5702,8566,42462,18945,18946],"class_list":["post-108789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-predictions","tag-aliaksandra-sasnovich","tag-aliaksandra-sasnovich-predictions","tag-diane-parry","tag-diane-parry-predictions","tag-laura-samson","tag-laura-samson-predictions","tag-lilli-tagger","tag-lilli-tagger-predictions","tag-mai-hontama","tag-mai-hontama-predictions","tag-maria-timofeeva","tag-maria-timofeeva-predictions","tag-maya-joint","tag-maya-joint-predictions","tag-nikola-bartunkova","tag-nikola-bartunkova-predictions","tag-tennis-picks","tag-tennis-predictions","tag-wta-prague-predictions","tag-xinyu-gao","tag-xinyu-gao-predictions","tag-yuan-yue","tag-yuan-yue-predictions"],"modified_by":"Yesh Ginsburg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5608"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108789"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108805,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108789\/revisions\/108805"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}