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 teenage phenom Mirra Andreeva squaring off against Maria Sakkari. Elsewhere around the grounds, we offer predictions for Coco Gauff vs Olga Danilovic, Emma Raducanu vs Anastasia Potapova, and Aryna Sabalenka vs Zhuoxuan Bai. 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: Mike Frey – 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 teenage phenom Mirra Andreeva squaring off against Maria Sakkari. Elsewhere around the grounds, we offer predictions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4067,"featured_media":96117,"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":[205,2363,3245,15801,12584,16905,7684,15953,305,15468,18273,18274,18490,18491,2373,2369,18059,18055,462,15641],"class_list":["post-96271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-predictions","tag-australian-open","tag-australian-open-predictions","tag-caty-mcnally","tag-caty-mcnally-predictions","tag-elsa-jacquemot","tag-elsa-jacquemot-predictions","tag-hailey-baptiste","tag-hailey-baptiste-predictions","tag-maria-sakkari","tag-maria-sakkari-predictions","tag-mirra-andreeva","tag-mirra-andreeva-predictions","tag-storm-hunter","tag-storm-hunter-predictions","tag-tennis-picks","tag-tennis-predictions","tag-victoria-mboko","tag-victoria-mboko-predictions","tag-yulia-putintseva","tag-yulia-putintseva-predictions"],"modified_by":"Shane Black","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96271","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=96271"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96275,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96271\/revisions\/96275"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMboko impressed in round one with fearless shot-making and strong movement. McNally advanced by taking the ball early, but sustaining that tempo against Mboko\u2019s athletic defense will be demanding.
\nPrediction: Mboko in 3<\/em><\/p>\n
\nThis is a matchup in which Caty McNally\u2019s serve will be crucial, as from the baseline, Victoria Mboko has a clear advantage given her superior movement and brilliant backhand. All in all, the Canadian should win this one.
\nPrediction: Mboko in 2<\/em><\/p>\n
\nMcNally usually tries to mix up her game and come to the net regularly. Doing that will not be easy against Mboko, who has the ideal combination of moving and striking the ball well. The cool-headed Canadian is unlikely to be spooked by McNally\u2019s style and should win this.
\nPrediction: Mboko in 2<\/em><\/p>\nYulia Putintseva vs Elsa Jacquemot<\/h4>\n
\nPutintseva\u2019s opener followed a familiar pattern: grinding rallies and relentless pressure forcing mistakes. Jacquemot played freely in round one, but Putintseva\u2019s ability to disrupt rhythm should gradually wear her down.
\nPrediction: Putintseva in 2<\/em><\/p>\n
\nElsa Jacquemot had one of the more surprising first-round victories in what has so far been one of the matches of the tournament. In a match decided by baseline aggression, I think the Frenchwoman will unfortunately still not be 100% physically after an over three-hour first-round match, something that should play directly into Yulia Putintseva\u2019s favour.
\nPrediction: Putintseva in 3<\/em><\/p>\n
\nAfter a very difficult 2025, Putintseva showed great signs against Beatriz Haddad Maia. Jacquemot deserves credit for triumphing in a lengthy battle against Marta Kostyuk, but she probably would have lost had the Ukrainian not suffered a nasty fall in the third set. There will be several lengthy rallies in this encounter, but I think Putintseva\u2019s craft has the edge.
\nPrediction: Putintseva in 3<\/em><\/p>\nStorm Hunter vs Hailey Baptiste<\/h4>\n
\nHunter came through a tight first round showing composure in the big moments. Baptiste\u2019s power helped her advance, but Hunter\u2019s consistency and point construction should give her control when it matters most.
\nPrediction: Hunter in 3<\/em><\/p>\n
\nHailey Baptiste saw her five-match losing streak come to an end in the first round, while Storm Hunter, a doubles specialist, had an inspiring result in front of a home crowd. I think this match can get tighter than the rankings would suggest, but Baptiste should still have enough to win this one.
\nPrediction: Baptiste in 3<\/em><\/p>\n
\nThis is another matchup that will undoubtedly contain many lengthy rallies. It could go either way and choosing a winner is difficult. Baptiste\u2019s decent Grand Slam performances last year and her mentality, suited to dealing with Hunter\u2019s home Australian fans, make me back her, but without any certainty.
\nPrediction: Baptiste in 3<\/em><\/p>\nMirra Andreeva vs Maria Sakkari<\/h4>\n
\nAndreeva came through her opener with poise, absorbing pressure and picking her moments to attack. Sakkari\u2019s first round was more physical, and if this becomes a battle of consistency rather than power, Andreeva holds the edge.
\nPrediction: Andreeva in 3<\/em><\/p>\n
\nThis should have the makings of an exciting encounter, as Maria Sakkari has been playing some good tennis lately. However, despite this, not only is Mirra Andreeva in great form herself, but her defence and ability to extend points, even on a fast hard court, will likely frustrate the Greek.
\nPrediction: Andreeva in 2<\/em><\/p>\n
\nAside from a terrific performance against Jasmine Paolini in Madrid last year, Sakkari has generally struggled to raise her game against the best players in recent seasons. I also expect Andreeva to benefit from coming through a challenging opener against Donna Vekic. That makes what was already a tough ask for Sakkari even harder.
\nPrediction: Andreeva in 2<\/em><\/p>\n