{"id":28249,"date":"2020-09-16T16:09:08","date_gmt":"2020-09-16T20:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=28249"},"modified":"2020-09-16T16:09:08","modified_gmt":"2020-09-16T20:09:08","slug":"wta-italian-open-day-4-predictions-rus-vondrousova","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2020\/09\/16\/wta-italian-open-day-4-predictions-rus-vondrousova\/","title":{"rendered":"WTA Italian Open Day 4 Predictions &#8211; Including Arantxa Rus vs Marketa Vondrousova"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Day 4 at the WTA Italian Open will conclude the second round. Looking to move on the the Round of 16, seeds Anett Kontaveit, Marketa Vondrousova, Petra martic, Garbine Muguruza, Johanna Konta, and Kiki Bertens will be in action. There are some great matches on deck. Who will move be moving on and who will be sent packing? At LWOT, we are predicting all eight of the Day 4 matches&#8211;four in this article, and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2020\/09\/16\/wta-italian-open-day-4-predictions-muguruza-gauff\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">four in a second article<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>WTA Italian Open Day 4 Predictions<\/h2>\n<h4><strong>Arantxa Rus vs Marketa Vondrousova<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><strong>Head to Head: <\/strong>First Meeting<\/p>\n<p>Marketa Vondrousova hasn\u2019t had an easy pass in Rome. Misaki Doi was able to find a way into the Vondrousova game, pushing last year\u2019s French Open finalist to a decider. The Czech is certainly short of the results she experienced in 2019, perhaps due in part to her wrist surgery. Yet, Vondrousova enjoyed her first win on clay in her opener. Can she create a streak? Qualifier Arantxa Rus will do her best to stop it.<\/p>\n<p>Rus has made her way from the ITF to a focused WTA tour player. Still relegated to qualifiers to reach a main draw spot, the Dutchwoman dropped just five games en route to her first round clash with Iga Swiatek. She impressed in her straight sets win over the young Pole. But, will she have enough tools to dismiss the #12 seed? It\u2019s likely Vondrousova will see her off, but not without a fight. Expect this one to go the distance.<br \/>\n<em>Prediction: Vondrousova in 3<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a id=\"VVd9TZY5SSxa7rPBpucTxQ\" class=\"gie-single\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1228530883\" 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:'VVd9TZY5SSxa7rPBpucTxQ',sig:'REsAs_eNliayndfeHdGVGlIrBAMJixz_DZYF3mn6OhA=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1228530883',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h4><strong>Yulia Putintseva vs Petra Martic<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><strong>Head to Head: <\/strong>Putintseva 1-0<\/p>\n<p>After her <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordontennis.com\/us-open\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">US Open<\/a> dismissal at the hands of Yulia Putintseva, Petra Martic will be looking to even the score. Certainly a jack of all trades, Martic has yet to master one. The Croat has been able to thwart many an opponent with her variety \u2013 from carefully crafted drop shots to slices. A decent serve helps her get the point started, then allows her to execute her all-court game. Unfortunately, there\u2019s no big weapon and that makes it difficult for Martic to command during the later stages of tournaments.<\/p>\n<p>Putintseva\u2019s win at the US Open isn\u2019t all that surprising. She can go toe to toe with the best of them on any given day. It\u2019s her inconsistency which makes her a hit-or-miss rival. When she\u2019s playing at her best, her strong baseline game puts her in control. Then, the Kazakh can throw in some well-disguised drop shots ending the point. Mental fortitude will be her biggest challenge, and when she loses that laser sharp focus, it\u2019s all over for Putintseva. Certainly, she\u2019ll have a confidence in this one \u2013 and will look for a repeat of her US Open success. I think she\u2019s got favored hand in this one, but it will take a decider to send the #8 seed home.<br \/>\n<em>Putintseva in 3<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a id=\"CFZ3XGyXQnR-WrGzYkQHjw\" class=\"gie-single\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1270996380\" 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:'CFZ3XGyXQnR-WrGzYkQHjw',sig:'q_qjDT-aRvwEfU40UesI5rxZJ945W2t8t-GHEx3FRes=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1270996380',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h4><strong>Danka Kovinic vs Elise Mertens<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><strong>Head to Head: <\/strong>Mertens 1-0<\/p>\n<p>Danka Kovinic has notched a few big wins in Rome, making a believer out of me. The Montenegrin dropping only one game in her opener against Germany\u2019s Julia Goerges. She followed that by giving up just four games to the #6 seed, Belinda Bencic. Next up is Dutchwoman Elise Mertens who is in a career best form. Mertens has had the answer for nearly any opponent. It would be shocking to see the eleventh seed fall this early in Rome.<br \/>\n<em>Prediction: Mertens in 2<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a id=\"jc4_7ZebRL5MiY4RDDvukg\" class=\"gie-single\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1272773931\" 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:'jc4_7ZebRL5MiY4RDDvukg',sig:'QbHoWYgnkJ0yi32t2fv4MAyqepQCO4aqEobhkME38FA=',w:'594px',h:'400px',items:'1272773931',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h4><strong>Kiki Bertens vs Polona Hercog<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><strong>Head to Head: <\/strong>Tied 1-1<\/p>\n<p>Kiki Bertens will need a bit of time to shake off the rust and find that fabulous pre-pandemic form. Bertens won the St. Petersburg Open and reached the fourth round of the Australian Open before the coronavirus halted the WTA tour. Resuming tennis on a surface the Dutchwoman favors will certainly be in her favor. Bertens will be looking to better last year\u2019s run to the semifinals.<\/p>\n<p>Polona Hercog also favors this surface. After all, her three titles have all come on clay. The Slovenian won a hard-fought opener against compatriot Kaja Juvan. That battle suggested that the more experienced Hercog simply hasn\u2019t found her form. If Bertens had more matches under her belt, I would expect this to quickly go in favor of the Dutchwoman. Since Bertens is just returning and will need time find her rhythm, I expect she\u2019ll be forced to a decider.<br \/>\n<em>Prediction: Bertens in 3<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Main Photo from Getty.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Day 4 at the WTA Italian Open will conclude the second round. Looking to move on the the Round of 16, seeds Anett Kontaveit, Marketa Vondrousova, Petra martic, Garbine Muguruza, Johanna Konta, and Kiki Bertens will be in action. There are some great matches on deck. Who will move be moving on and who will [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1838,"featured_media":17938,"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":[4,69],"tags":[12333,12320,5300,12385,8537,12386,1412,5868,407,9083,884,2507,5150,2373,2369,462,12144],"class_list":["post-28249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wta","category-predictions","tag-2020-italian-open-predictions","tag-2020-wta-italian-open","tag-arantxa-rus","tag-arantxa-rus-vs-marketa-vondrousova-prediction","tag-danka-kovinic","tag-danka-kovinic-vs-elise-mertens-prediction","tag-elise-mertens","tag-italian-open-predictions","tag-kiki-bertens","tag-kiki-bertens-vs-polona-hercog-prediction","tag-marketa-vondrousova","tag-petra-martic","tag-polona-hercog","tag-tennis-picks","tag-tennis-predictions","tag-yulia-putintseva","tag-yulia-putintseva-vs-petra-martic-prediction"],"modified_by":"Yesh Ginsburg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28249","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=28249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}