The second round of the Australian Open kicks off on Day 4 as 64 women remain in the first Grand Slam draw of 2026. Some of the best in the world will be in action on Day 4, including No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka squaring off against Zhuoxuan Bai. Elsewhere around the grounds, we offer predictions for Coco Gauff vs Olga Danilovic, Emma Raducanu vs Anastasia Potapova, and Mirra Andreeva vs Maria Sakkari. Ilemona Onekutu, Zain Mustafa, and Jordan Reynolds provide their insights. But who will advance?<\/p>\n
Ilemona<\/strong> Zain<\/strong> Jordan<\/strong> Ilemona<\/strong> Zain<\/strong> Jordan<\/strong> Ilemona<\/strong> Zain<\/strong> Jordan<\/strong> Ilemona<\/strong> Zain<\/strong> Jordan<\/strong> Main Photo Credit: Aaron Doster – Imagn Images<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The second round of the Australian Open kicks off on Day 4 as 64 women remain in the first Grand Slam draw of 2026. Some of the best in the world will be in action on Day 4, including No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka squaring off against Zhuoxuan Bai. Elsewhere around the grounds, we offer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4067,"featured_media":89237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[4130,15654,13445,16358,1766,15523,205,2363,5227,16390,394,15585,43174,43513,2373,2369,18884,18885,18816,18817],"class_list":["post-96262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-predictions","tag-ajla-tomljanovic","tag-ajla-tomljanovic-predictions","tag-anna-bondar","tag-anna-bondar-predictions","tag-aryna-sabalenka","tag-aryna-sabalenka-predictions","tag-australian-open","tag-australian-open-predictions","tag-elena-gabriela-ruse","tag-elena-gabriela-ruse-predictions","tag-elina-svitolina","tag-elina-svitolina-predictions","tag-linda-klimovicova","tag-linda-klimovicova-predictions","tag-tennis-picks","tag-tennis-predictions","tag-zeynep-sonmez","tag-zeynep-sonmez-predictions","tag-zhuoxuan-bai","tag-zhuoxuan-bai-predictions"],"modified_by":"Shane Black","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96262","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\/4067"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96262"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96273,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96262\/revisions\/96273"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nSonmez impressed by staying composed in long exchanges in the first round, showing improved shot tolerance. Bondar was solid but less convincing defensively, and if rallies extend again, Sonmez\u2019s consistency should give her the edge.
\nPrediction: Sonmez in 3<\/em><\/p>\n
\nZeynep Sonmez produced one of the best results of the first round when she took down the 11th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova. Her level throughout the tournament, including qualifying, has been pretty solid, and I expect her baseline play to once again be the decisive edge over Anna Bondar in this match.
\nPrediction: Sonmez in 2<\/em><\/p>\n
\nSonmez pulled off a great result against Ekaterina Alexandrova in the previous round. At her best, she has a more formidable game than Bondar, who focuses on doing the basics well and making opponents work hard to beat her. I think Sonmez can handle
\nthat challenge at the moment.
\nPrediction: Sonmez in 2<\/em><\/p>\nElina Svitolina vs Linda Klimovicova<\/h4>\n
\nSvitolina\u2019s opening match was built on control and discipline, with very few unforced errors creeping in. Klimovicova played freely in round one, but sustaining that level against Svitolina\u2019s defensive pressure is a different challenge.
\nPrediction: Svitolina in 2<\/em><\/p>\n
\nCarrying the good form from a title run, Elina Svitolina had a pretty comfortable outing in the first round. While Linda Klimovicova is a solid rallier on hard courts, Svitolina is playing just too well to slip up against what should be an undermatched opponent.
\nPrediction: Svitolina in 2<\/em><\/p>\n
\nSvitolina cannot afford any complacency here. Klimovicova played excellently in her first Grand Slam main draw match against Francesca Jones. If Svitolina performs well, her experience and relentless will likely still overwhelm
\nKlimovicova.
\nPrediction: Svitolina in 2<\/em><\/p>\nElena-Gabriela Ruse vs Ajla Tomljanovic<\/h4>\n
\nRuse had to dig deep in her first-round win, expending a lot of physical energy to get through. Tomljanovic, by contrast, looked sharp and economical, which should matter if this turns into a physical contest.
\nPrediction: Tomljanovic in 3<\/em><\/p>\n
\nBoth Elena-Gabriela Ruse and Ajla Tomljanovic had confident showings in their first-round matches. Ruse should look to grind this one out and test Tomljanovic\u2019s fitness levels, but on a shot-for-shot basis, the Aussie gets the nod, and I expect her to win another close match in front of a home crowd.
\nPrediction: Tomljanovic in 3<\/em><\/p>\n
\nTomljanovic has never reached the third round of her home Grand Slam, losing at this stage several times. This is the best chance she has ever had to achieve it. Ruse will be aggressive with her forehand, but Tomljanovic is a better hard-court player at her best. I am backing the Australian to overcome any mental block and get this done.
\nPrediction: Tomljanovic in 3<\/em><\/p>\nAryna Sabalenka vs Zhuoxuan Bai<\/h4>\n
\nSabalenka came through her opener with controlled aggression, striking a good balance between power and patience. Bai showed resilience in round one, but the step up in pace and sustained pressure should expose the gaps once rallies shorten.
\nPrediction: Sabalenka in 2<\/em><\/p>\n
\nWhile Bai Zhuoxuan has done well to achieve her career-best Australian Open result, against the raw power of Aryna Sabalenka, it is more than likely that her run, which started in the qualifiers, ends here.
\nPrediction: Sabalenka in 2<\/em><\/p>\n
\nBai\u2019s deciding-set tiebreak triumph over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was one of the tournament\u2019s most exciting matches so far. But her level in that contest will undoubtedly not be good enough against the world No. 1. Sabalenka should win this comfortably.
\nPrediction: Sabalenka in 2<\/em><\/p>\n