Tennis is a sport that never ends, and just days after the final Grand Slam of the season, we go again-. The WTA Tour moves on to Chennai, where top seed Alison Riske-Amritraj will be looking to follow up on a second-week run at the US Open. As always, we here at LWOT will preview and predict every match, including the rest of the day’s matches in a separate article. Who do you think will win?
WTA Chennai Day 2 Predictions
Olivia Tjandramulia vs Carol Zhao
Head-to-head: first meeting
Tjandramulia is attempting to avoid a fifth straight losing season and has gotten off to a good start in Chennai, beating Ekaterina Kazionova and Yuki Naito in straight sets to qualify. It was the first time the Australian earned back-to-back wins since June. Zhao has had a considerably stronger season, a 27-17 record, and two ITF titles, including an ITF 100 in Charleston. The recent form has not been great for the Canadian, coming into Chennai with a five-match losing streak. Four of those losses were on the main tour though, so against an opponent a couple of levels below, Zhao should be winning here.
Prediction: Zhao in 2
Oksana Selekhemeteva vs Despina Papamichail
Head-to-head: first meeting
Selekhmeteva had a breakout run on the main Tour in Prague, taking out Sorana Cirstea en route to a quarterfinal there. The 19-year-old followed it up with an ITF 60 quarterfinal before losing in the first qualifying round of the US Open. Papamichail has had a tough time this season despite reaching a final of an ITF 60 in Brescia. The Greek is 23-29 on the season and winless in her last five matches. Selekhmeteva should be a solid favorite here and has the game to make a run here.
Prediction: Selekhmeteva in 2
Magda Linette vs Moyuka Uchijima
Head-to-head: Linette 1-0 Uchijima
Linette has had a decent summer on hard courts, WTA quarterfinals in Prague and Cleveland, a final at ITF 100 in Grodzisk Mazowiecki, and a third-set tiebreak loss to a resurgent Karolina Pliskova at the US Open. Uchijima has developed very well since her last match against Linette, back in Tokyo in 2017. The 21-year-old is 44-18 on the season with two ITF 60 and one ITF 25 titles, going all the way to the final qualifying round at the US Open. It will be interesting to see Uchijima face off with a main tour-level opponent at this point in her career though I still see Linette coming out on top.
Prediction: Linette in 3
Alison Riske-Amritraj vs Anastasia Gasanova
Head-to-head: first meeting
Riske-Amritraj has had a strong season on hard courts, making her 12th WTA final in Adelaide in January before going on to the fourth round in Miami. Most recently, the 32-year-old made the second week at the US Open. Gasanova had a rough start to the season, losing ten of her first 12 matches in 2022. The Russian has been managing to string some wins together since the French Open but has not won since her retirement from a match at ITF Bronx. Riske-Amritraj should be winning here.
Prediction: Riske-Amritraj in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
