The final regular season week for the WTA is here! Players have come to the WTA Moscow looking for some final ranking points and prize money to cap off their season. Who will rise to the occasion and who will fall? Read on to find out!
WTA Moscow Day 1 and 2 Predictions
Kiki Mladenovic vs Yulia Putintseva
Head to Head: 3-2 Mladenovic
Kiki Mladenovic takes on Yulia Putintseva in the first round of Moscow. Mladenovic is coming off a solid week in Linz, where she beat Donna Vekic on her way to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, however, Mladenovic lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova Yulia Putintseva made the quarterfinals of Tianjin last week before falling to Ons Jabeur.
Mladenovic leads the had to head 3-2 and won the most recent matchup on an indoor hard court in the 2017 St. Petersburg final. Mladenovic has the advantage of playing on indoor hard last week, as Linz is played indoors while Tianjin is an outdoor tournament. Putintseva does have the ability to hang in points and potentially force a bunch of unforced errors from Mladenovic. However, Mladenovic’s win over Vekic last week was very impressive and if she can bring a similar level, then she will win this match. Losing Alexandrova on indoor hard is nothing to fret about, after all. Mladenovic wins a tight match.
Prediction: Mladenovic in 3
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Maria Sakkari
Head to Head: 1-0 Sakkari
A trip to the second round of Moscow is at stake when Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova battles Maria Sakkari. Pavlyuchenkova played well to reach the Osaka final a few weeks ago, but has not capitalized on that momentum, going 2-3 since Osaka. Sakkari has been out with injury and this will be her first match back in action since the US Open.
Sakkari leads the head to head 1-0, beating Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets earlier this season on a clay court in Rome. However, this is completely different circumstances. Pavlyuchenkova is playing in her home country on a surface that she should be much more comfortable on compared to Sakkari, who has been out injured. I can’t see Sakkari winning this match. Pavlyuchenkova moves on.
Prediction: Pavlyuchenkova in 2
Daria Kasatkina vs Dayana Yastremska
Head to Head: never played
Daria Kasatkina battles Dayana Yastremska in the first round of Moscow. Kasatkina is the defending champion of the event, but has struggled with form this season. However, she did have an encouraging result in Beijing, making the quarterfinals before losing to Caroline Wozniacki. Yastremska is currently sitting at a career high World No. 23, although her ranking will dip a bit when the new rankings come out this week. Yastremska had a solid week in Tianjin, making the quarterfinals before losing to Veronika Kudermetova.
These two have never played before. This match will be a classic match between a power player and a counterpuncher. Yastremska will try to put Kasatkina on the defensive and try to hit the ball at or in front of the baseline. Kasatkina will try to keep points alive, counterpunch, and hope Yastremska misses. This should be a tight match, but given that Kasatkina is playing in her home country and having success at this tournament in the past (she also made the final here in 2017 and won the doubles title in 2015), I expect Kasatkina to move on.
Prediction: Kasatkina in 3
Svetlana Kuznetsova vs Karolina Muchova
Head to Head: never played
Svetlana Kuznetsova takes on Karolina Muchova in the first round of Moscow. Kuznetsova played well in Wuhan, qualifying and winning a couple matches in the main draw before falling to Elina Svitolina. However, Kuznetsova was not able to keep the momentum going, as she lost in the first round of Beijing to Christina McHale. Muchova won her first WTA title in Seoul last month. However, in her only match since, in Beijing, Muchova lost in straight sets to Madison Keys. Muchova is set to move to a new career high of World No. 35 when the rankings come out this week.
These two have never played before. Kuznetsova is playing in her home country and has won the singles tournament in Moscow twice and the doubles title once, so she will be comfortable playing Muchova. However, Muchova’s net play and touch shots have really impressed this season and she is very solid from the baseline. While Kuznetsova will fight hard, Muchova is just a little better at this point in time. Muchova advances.
Prediction: Muchova in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
Disagree with our WTA Moscow Day 1 Predictions? As always, feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.
