{"id":96199,"date":"2026-01-19T10:25:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T15:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=96199"},"modified":"2026-01-19T10:25:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T15:25:10","slug":"australian-open-day-3-womens-predictions-bencic-boulter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2026\/01\/19\/australian-open-day-3-womens-predictions-bencic-boulter\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Open Day 3 Women’s Predictions Including Belinda Bencic vs Katie Boulter"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first round will conclude on Day 3 of the Australian Open, which means we get 20 women’s singles matches. As always, we here at LastWordOnTennis will share our thoughts on all of the matches with you. We split the 20 matches between five articles. In addition to this article, the others feature defending champion Madison Keys vs Oleksandra Oliynykova<\/a>, Naomi Osaka vs Antonia Ruzic<\/a>, Liudmila Samsonova vs Laura Siegemund<\/a>, and Elena Rybakina vs Kaja Juvan<\/a>. Predicting these matches are Jordan Reynolds, Nurein Ahmed, and Ilemona Onekutu. Who do you think will advance to Round 2?<\/p>\n

Australian Open Day 3 Women’s Predictions<\/h2>\n

Leylah Fernandez vs Janice Tjen<\/h4>\n

Jordan:<\/em>
\nNeither woman won a match in their opening two tournaments of 2026. Fernandez\u2019s game is more complete and suits the conditions more if she plays well. That makes her the more likely winner despite both players carrying poor form into this contest.
\nPrediction: Fernandez in 2<\/em><\/p>\n

Nurein:<\/em>
\nTjen is a competent player, but she is still some steps below the Tour\u2019s elite names. Momentum swings will only favor Fernandez\u2019s creativity and I expect the Canadian to make it to the next round.
\nPrediction: Fernandez in 2<\/em><\/p>\n

Ilemona:<\/em>
\nTjen\u2019s pace<\/a> can challenge early, but Fernandez thrives on turning defense into attack. Her speed and consistency should gradually swing momentum.
\nPrediction: Fernandez in 3<\/em><\/p>\n

Sorana Cirstea vs Eva Lys<\/h4>\n

Jordan:<\/em>
\nLys can balance her game between her attack and defense. The German will undoubtedly have to use much of the latter against Cirstea, who plays aggressively against all opponents. I think Lys, who has improved a lot in the last 12 months, can handle Cirstea\u2019s hitting and triumph.
\nPrediction: Lys in 3<\/em><\/p>\n

Nurein:<\/em>
\nThis will be Cirstea\u2019s last Australian Open<\/a>, so we can expect the Romanian veteran to play every point with energy. But Lys is a different player from 12 months ago. Her forehand can hold up longer in exchanges and she\u2019s defending with far greater belief. The German should be the favorite here.
\nPrediction: Lys in 3<\/em><\/p>\n

Ilemona:<\/em>
\nLys\u2019 power makes this dangerous, yet Cirstea\u2019s experience shows in how she manages big moments. By varying height and tempo, she can disrupt rhythm and take control late.
\nPrediction: Cirstea in 2<\/em><\/p>\n

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

Katerina Siniakova vs Panna Udvardy<\/h4>\n

Jordan:<\/em>
\nSiniakova\u2019s singles form has mostly been poor since the start of 2025. However, this is a decent draw against a player whose sole Grand Slam main draw win came at Wimbledon over three years ago. Udvardy has played a lot of good tennis in the past few months to climb the rankings, but I still give Siniakova a slight edge.
\nPrediction: Siniakova in 3<\/em><\/p>\n

Nurein:<\/em>
\nSiniakova is supremely confident in this type of stage. She\u2019s won mutliple Grand Slams in doubles and her singles record is not too shabby. The Czech is as tough as they come on any surface and Udvardy doesn\u2019t carry the same clutch pedigree or flair that Siniakova possesses.
\nPrediction: Siniakova in 2<\/em><\/p>\n

Ilemona:<\/em>
\nUdvardy\u2019s baseline consistency keeps rallies honest, but Siniakova\u2019s ability to change direction and come forward adds layers. That variety should separate them as the match unfolds.
\nPrediction: Siniakova in 2<\/em><\/p>\n

Belinda Bencic vs Katie Boulter<\/h4>\n

Jordan:<\/em>
\nBoulter\u2019s forehand, at its best, is slightly superior to Bencic\u2019s. However, the Briton\u2019s much worse movement and clear inferiority in backhand exchanges will make it challenging for her to win. Bencic\u2019s recent excellent form only makes the task harder.
\nPrediction: Bencic in 2<\/em><\/p>\n

Nurein:<\/em>
\nIt\u2019s not an overestimation to say the Bencic is a dark horse in this tournament. She was outstanding at the United Cup. Boulter\u2019s hard-charging aggression will be too risky against Bencic\u2019s extraordinary and this is not a match I give the Briton any hope.
\nPrediction: Bencic in 2<\/em><\/p>\n

Ilemona:<\/em>
\nBoulter\u2019s serve keeps things close, but Bencic\u2019s return quality consistently applies pressure. Once rallies extend, her timing and anticipation should create openings.
\nPrediction: Bencic in 2<\/em><\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: Mike Frey-Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first round will conclude on Day 3 of the Australian Open, which means we get 20 women’s singles matches. As always, we here at LastWordOnTennis will share our thoughts on all of the matches with you. We split the 20 matches between five articles. In addition to this article, the others feature defending champion […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1601,"featured_media":79410,"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":[4393,2363,4414,266,15465,17899,17900,43259,43260,2254,15431,1225,16172,3551,15818,16293,16295,602,15445,2373,2369],"class_list":["post-96199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-predictions","tag-australian-open-day-3-predictions","tag-australian-open-predictions","tag-australian-open-womens-predictions","tag-belinda-bencic","tag-belinda-bencic-predictions","tag-eva-lys","tag-eva-lys-predictions","tag-janice-tjen","tag-janice-tjen-predictions","tag-katerina-siniakova","tag-katerina-siniakova-predictions","tag-katie-boulter","tag-katie-boulter-predictions","tag-leylah-fernandez","tag-leylah-fernandez-predictions","tag-panna-udvardy","tag-panna-udvardy-predictions","tag-sorana-cirstea","tag-sorana-cirstea-predictions","tag-tennis-picks","tag-tennis-predictions"],"modified_by":"Yesh Ginsburg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96199","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\/1601"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96199"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96227,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96199\/revisions\/96227"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}