{"id":18304,"date":"2019-08-04T19:34:02","date_gmt":"2019-08-04T23:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=18304"},"modified":"2019-08-04T19:34:02","modified_gmt":"2019-08-04T23:34:02","slug":"toronto-rogers-cup-day-1-predictions-sharapova-kontaveit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2019\/08\/04\/toronto-rogers-cup-day-1-predictions-sharapova-kontaveit\/","title":{"rendered":"WTA Toronto Rogers Cup Day 1 Predictions \u2013 Including Maria Sharapova vs Anett Kontaveit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The hard court swing moves <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2017\/04\/10\/tennis-continues-to-grow-north-of-the-border\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">north to Canada<\/a> for the Rogers Cup. It&#8217;s a jam packed field of top-tier talent competing in Toronto. Here&#8217;s a look at four of the opening round matches and predictions for who&#8217;ll be moving on to the second round.<\/p>\n<h2>WTA Toronto Rogers Cup Day 1 Predictions<\/h2>\n<h4><strong>Dayana Yastremska vs Johanna Konta<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><strong>Head to head: <\/strong>Yastremska 0-1 Konta<\/p>\n<p>Johanna Konta will be looking to transfer her clay season success to the hard courts. Where clay had previously been her kryptonite, 2019 saw her greatest successes. Britain\u2019s #1 leads the WTA in break points saved at 65.5% over 41 matches. That should give 13<sup>th<\/sup> seed some confidence when she meets Ukraine\u2019s rising star, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2018\/10\/21\/18-year-old-ukrainian-dayana-yastremska-is-one-to-look-out-for-in-2019\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Dayana Yastremska<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The 19-year-old earned the Taiwan Open title in January, demonstrating herself as a most capable hard court player. In her maiden appearance at the Rogers Cup, Yastremska received an unfortunate draw. Opening against the tough Brit is a difficult ask, but she also landed in the same section as World #1 Ashleigh Barty, resurgent Victoria Azarenka and crafty Hsieh Su-Wei. Challenging, no doubt, but he Ukrainian can surprise. I\u2019m just not convinced that she\u2019ll go far in Canada.<br \/>\n<em>Prediction: Konta in 3<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a id=\"L-Euo_77QfpRIDEXXvrRDg\" class=\"gie-single\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1153833242\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'L-Euo_77QfpRIDEXXvrRDg',sig:'o2mGCOAATcbUWzqTePGSSdlIbAVpmElsCscmQztOXSA=',w:'524px',h:'594px',items:'1153833242',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h4><strong>Caroline Wozniacki vs Yulia Putintseva<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><strong>Head to head: <\/strong>Wozniacki 1-1 Putintseva<\/p>\n<p>Yulia Putintseva has had some great hard court runs, just not at the Rogers Cup. In fact, Putintseva hasn\u2019t made it through the first round in any appearance here. Now, she opens against Caroline Wozniacki, the 2017 finalist and 2010 champion. Sure, the Dane isn\u2019t playing as well as she was in 2017. But, Caroline in Canada? I\u2019m backing the newlywed for the win.<br \/>\n<em>Prediction: Wozniacki in 2<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a id=\"gbotwu3wR1xt4VfubqC7dA\" class=\"gie-single\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1138300293\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'gbotwu3wR1xt4VfubqC7dA',sig:'FhsCsnWskpd0ZJd-4CqI-BRUAoIWUT7XdHRS-OFdEC8=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1138300293',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h4><strong>Caroline Garcia vs Jelena Ostapenko<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><strong>Head to head: <\/strong>First meeting<\/p>\n<p>With her all or nothing style, Ostapenko can bring in the biggest wins or crash out in the opening round. You just never know what you\u2019ll see from one tournament to the next. Certainly Ostapenko has incredible talent, but there\u2019s no middle of the road. The Latvian leads the WTA tour in double faults \u2013 222 in 28 matches. If it\u2019s not her day, you can expect that double fault number to climb.<\/p>\n<p>Caroline Garcia has been playing with intention. Focused, consistent and making some deep runs, including the Nottingham championship. The Frenchwoman\u2019s decision to take a hiatus from doubles seems to have benefitted her singles game.<\/p>\n<p>This match is nearly impossible to predict, as so much rides on the erratic Ostapenko\u2019s play. Who knows if this is the match during which every piece clicks and Ostapenko runs away with the match. But, you can bet any Ostapenko letdown will be punished by Garcia.<br \/>\n<em>Prediction: Garcia in 3<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a id=\"hrTmn7TRTB5BMhOEv64Z6A\" class=\"gie-single\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1156075108\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'hrTmn7TRTB5BMhOEv64Z6A',sig:'YkNQGBxNGDGp9fUsHjfEjQLYWA7cYu0Uli-ra21EWdI=',w:'395px',h:'594px',items:'1156075108',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h4><strong>Maria Sharapova vs Anett Kontaveit<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><strong>Head to head: <\/strong>Sharapova 1-0 Kontaveit<\/p>\n<p>You have to wonder about Maria Sharapova\u2019s health. It seems that ailments and injuries have frequently waylaid the Russian superstar. Her <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordontennis.com\/wimbledon\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Wimbledon<\/a> campaign was short-lived, retiring in the third set with a 0-5 score line. Even when fit, Sharapova\u2019s serve can abandon her at any moment and the double faults build.<\/p>\n<p>Anett Kontaveit has won a total of three matches since the French Open. The Estonian is simply not playing well. Going into a tournament in which she\u2019s only won 50% of her matches and playing against the former World #1 will not be an easy day at the office for Kontaveit.<\/p>\n<p>Sharapova will need a bit of time to shake off the rust. Neither she nor Kontaveit have played a tournament since Wimbledon. It should be an error laden start, but as the reacclimate to tournament play, it should be a competitive match. If Sharapova is healthy, Sharapova win.<br \/>\n<em>Prediction: Sharapova in 2<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Main Photo from Getty<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The hard court swing moves north to Canada for the Rogers Cup. It&#8217;s a jam packed field of top-tier talent competing in Toronto. Here&#8217;s a look at four of the opening round matches and predictions for who&#8217;ll be moving on to the second round. WTA Toronto Rogers Cup Day 1 Predictions Dayana Yastremska vs Johanna [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1838,"featured_media":11951,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_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":[887,406,7854,46,7853,3193,7852,473,60,894,7851,7705,2369,7860,7849,7855,462],"class_list":["post-18304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-predictions","tag-anett-kontaveit","tag-caroline-garcia","tag-caroline-garcia-vs-jelena-ostapenko-prediction","tag-caroline-wozniacki","tag-craoline-wozniacki-vs-yulia-putintseva-prediction","tag-dayana-yastremska","tag-dayana-yastremska-vs-johanna-konta-prediction","tag-jelena-ostapenko","tag-johanna-konta","tag-maria-sharapova","tag-maria-sharapova-vs-anett-kontaveit-prediction","tag-rogers-cup-2019","tag-tennis-predictions","tag-wta-toronto-predictions","tag-wta-toronto-rogers-cup","tag-wta-toronto-rogers-cup-day-1-predictions","tag-yulia-putintseva"],"modified_by":"Yesh Ginsburg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18304","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\/1838"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18304\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}