{"id":60723,"date":"2023-10-08T11:26:41","date_gmt":"2023-10-08T15:26:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=60723"},"modified":"2023-10-08T11:26:41","modified_gmt":"2023-10-08T15:26:41","slug":"wta-zhengzhou-day-1-predictions-tsurenko-schnaider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2023\/10\/08\/wta-zhengzhou-day-1-predictions-tsurenko-schnaider\/","title":{"rendered":"WTA Zhengzhou Day 1 Predictions Including Lesia Tsurenko vs Diana Schnaider"},"content":{"rendered":"

It should be an entertaining day of tennis at the WTA Zhengzhou Open, elevated to WTA 500 status for the first time. There are six first-round matches on the schdule in Zhengzhou and, as always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the schedule, including Nao Hibino vs Donna Vekic<\/a>. But who will book their spot in the second round?<\/p>\n

WTA Zhengzhou Day 1 Predictions<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Moyuka Uchijima vs Jasmine Paolini<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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

Jasmine Paolini, in the midst of a career-best season, must be accounted aT fairly heavy favourite heading into this match. The Italian performed solidly in reaching the third round in Beijing last time out, holding her own against world #1 Aryna Sabalenka in a 4-6 6-7 defeat, probably her best showing since reaching the quarterfinals in Cincinnati. Moyuka Uchijama impressed in the qualifying, but has not had a great deal of success at this level \u2013 though she did reach the second round in Osaka and Guangzhou. The Italian should have the edge here.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Paolini in 2<\/em><\/p>\n

Lesia Tsurenko vs Diana Schnaider<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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

There are a few intriguing subplots here and, as usual when a Ukrainian faces a Russian, there will likely be little love lost. Lesia Tsurenko is approaching the end of her career, or she is at least a lot nearer to the end than the beginning, but she is still a good competitor and is deserving of her place in the top 50 of the WTA rankings. Diana Schnaider, meanwhile, has shown flashes of real promise, but there will be concerns over the lucky loser\u2019s fitness heading into this match after she retired trailing 2-6 0-3 in the second round of qualifying. With that in mind, it\u2019s hard to see her getting past Tsurenko here.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Tsurenko in 2<\/em><\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>