Lob and Smash
Fansided

Wimbledon: Women’s Predictions, Day Two

By Clinton Trueman

facebooktwitterreddit

Jul 5, 2014; London, United Kingdom; Petra Kvitova (CZE) holds up the championship trophy after her match against Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) on day 12 of the 2014 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn and Tennis Club.Mandatory Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports

Wimbledon 2015: Women’s Match Analyses and Predictions for Day Two

Wimbledon 2015 has finally commenced, with half of the first round matches having taken place yesterday. Day one featured a variety of intriguing storylines and matches ranging from the good (Venus and Petko getting double bagels!) to the bad (Kyrgios’ numerous outbursts) and the ugly (Oh Carla..). Day Two promises to be just as exciting with a slew of top ten players and a few returning favourites taking the court. Here’s a look at some of today’s top matches:

Top Matches to Watch

Kiki Bertens vs. Petra Kvitova [2]

As is tradition, Kvitova will commence play on Centre Court today alongside the burly Dutchwoman. Kvitova’s had a rough few weeks since her premature departure in Paris: she was scheduled to play in Eastbourne last week but had to withdraw due to illness. Fortunately, she’s drawn Bertens in the first round who is playing just her third Wimbledon main draw, after falling in qualifying last year. Bertens is a solid player and hits a big ball, but Kvitova’s ball is just a little bit bigger.

There is always a chance that Kvitova could lose the match by hitting a bundle of errors (especially if she’s still under the weather), but the two-time champion seems to love the Wimbledon lawns too much to let that happen. Expect Kvitova to make a slow start, before blistering her way into the second round.

Prediction: Kvitova in 2.

Jana Cepelova vs. Simona Halep [3]

I’m not quite ready to jump onto the ‘Halep’s in a Slump’ bandwagon just yet: after all, her most recent losses have come to a red hot Kristina Mladenovic and Halep’s nightmare, Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. But I will readily admit that she isn’t playing the type of tennis that saw her reach the semifinals here last year. On top of that, her contract with coach Victor Ionita recently expired, which saw her join forces with Darren Cahill and Dorin Dobre. As for the coaching shift, Ionita seemed to be moulding her into an error machine, in the vein of previous charge Sorana Cirstea. This match will be a fairly strong indicator as to what effect Cahill and Dobre will have on her game, and whether they’ll try to revive the aggressive counterpunching style of play that has brought her so much success in recent years.

As long as Halep comes out with a clear game plan, this matchup is fairly straightforward. Cepelova is a solid little player who made waves in Charleston last year where she took out Serena en route to the final. However, she’s struggled since then to consistently win matches. The main issue is that she consistently hits the same type of shot: hard and flat. This is also the ball that Halep loves to receive as it’s right within her strike zone. This was made all so clear last year when Halep demolished Cepelova at the US Open 6-2, 6-1. Halep has been terribly inconsistent of late: her first set again Mladenovic was sublime, while her second set was definitely not. But if she can play consistent tennis throughout the match she’ll be booking her place in the second round in no time.

Prediction: Halep in 2.

Jarmila Gajdosova vs. Sabine Lisicki [15]

For pure entertainment value, this match is insurmountable. Lisicki and Gajdosova are both big hitters. They both have monstrous serves. They both stand as among the most emotional and expressive players on tour. And they both hit a plethora of errors.

The main issue with each of their games is that they heavily rely on confidence. Despite a fantastic start to the year, Gajdosova was the victim of a few rough draws throughout the American hard court swing and has struggled to even keep the ball in the court since then. On the other hand, Lisicki has had a relatively consistent year, including a fantastic run to the semifinals in Indian Wells. Lisicki also had a great tournament two weeks ago in Birmingham where she fell in the semifinals to eventual champion Angelique Kerber. On top of that, Lisicki’s confidence at Wimbledon never seems to dip, given her run to the final two years ago.

Given recent form, this should be a fairly simple match for Lisicki. However, if Gajdosova somehow begins to hit her spots and play to her full potential Lisicki could face her earliest Wimbledon loss since 2008. Regardless, there will be a lot of emotion. There will likely be tears. There will be scorching winners and embarrassing errors. And for my money, there will probably not be anything better on TV today.

Prediction: Lisicki in 2.

Duan Yingying vs. Eugenie Bouchard [12]

How do you solve a problem like Genie? That’s the question the tennis world is facing coming into this Wimbledon, as last year’s finalist is facing an 8-13 win record for the year (and 4-12 since the Australian Open). There’s no reason why Bouchard cannot be among the brightest stars of the women’s game. She’s popular. She has a chorus of fans affectionately dubbed the ‘Genie Army’. And she draws in massive crowds. But as of now, she can’t seem to hit her shots within the lines of the court.

While somewhat disappointing, her results in the grass court lead up tournaments were promising. She had a great win over grass court specialist Alison Riske, and extended her loss against Kristina Mladenovic to 3 sets in Birmingham. However, she did have to retire last week in Eastbourne due to injury. It remains to be seen whether the injury will seriously hinder her or whether the retirement was just a precaution. Irrespective, the time off last week should have been enough for her to recover.

Taking the ball ridiculously early will never make Bouchard a consistent player, but it did see her reach the final here last year. While this means that she can definitely play on grass, Bouchard has had trouble this year adapting to her newfound fame. This is surely going to be exacerbated at Wimbledon given her success here last year, and could see her gift the match to her opponent with a string of unforced errors.

Luckily, Bouchard’s first round opponent is a nice enough player, but doesn’t possess anything special to challenge the world’s best. If Bouchard can keep herself from becoming an error machine during the match and is healthy enough to compete, she should finally be able to give the Genie Army something to cheer about.

Prediction: Bouchard in 2.

More from Majors

The Best of the Rest

Timea Bacsinszky [15] vs. Julia Görges

Fun fact: Görges is one of just five players to make the second week at both grand slams this year. Players who fail to make that list include Halep, Kvitova and her first round opponent, Bacsinszky. Does this mean that Görges is a grand slam specialist? Probably not, although her ‘Hit It and See Where It Goes’ style of play is bolstered by the energy and confidence she seems to acquire when she plays at the slams. On top of that, her booming serve and groundstrokes are well suited to the grass courts here. Meanwhile, Bacsinszky is coming off an amazing fortnight in Paris where she was essentially one Serena Williams breakdown away from a maiden grand slam final. Although she hasn’t played yet on grass and will be a little rusty, the future top ten player is sure to be brimming with confidence that she can take on the game’s elite. Look for her to use that sensational backhand and excellent defence to gradually wear down Görges’ patience. If the German is in top form she could take this, but count on the Swiss surprise package to be a little too consistent for Görges.

Prediction: Bacsinszky in 3.

Agnieszka Radwanska [13] vs. Lucie Hradecka

Radwanska really hasn’t been herself this year. She sits just inside the top 20 on the Road to Singapore and is losing too many of the matches that she used to win with ease. Tired of having to play perfect and precise finesse tennis each week, Radwanska has adopted a more aggressive game style. Unfortunately, this has seen her introduce a bunch of unforced errors into her game. However, she has regained some of her form on the grass in the last few weeks, which culminated in a finals appearance in Eastbourne last week.

Hradecka is having a great year so far: she took out Ana Ivanovic in Melbourne earlier in the year before a few strong results on clay. Playing with two hands on both sides, she hits a big ball, which will be especially potent on this surface. Like most Czech players, she can be quite erratic and gift matches away with errors upon errors.

While Hradecka will likely cause some trouble for Radwanska, the Pole will be too consistent for the Czech and will battle her way into the second round.

Prediction: Radwanska in 3.

Caroline Wozniacki [5] vs. Zheng Saisai

Wozniacki hasn’t had much success at Wimbledon, having never made it past the fourth round. Having said that, she can definitely play on the surface, especially with the more aggressive style of play she adopted last year. She did retire in Eastbourne last week with an injury that affected her movement, but it seemed to be  a precautionary measure to ensure she would be fit for this fortnight. Her opponent is a rising star who will be playing her first Wimbledon. The Chinese woman is a solid player, but won’t threaten Wozniacki on her way to the second round.

Prediction: Wozniacki in 2.

Carina Witthoft vs. Angelique Kerber [10]

After a shocking start to the year, Kerber has played her way into form with three impressive title runs, including a title two weeks ago in Birmingham. While Witthoft had a great run in Melbourne earlier this year and is playing some great stuff, Kerber will be too strong and will use the match to announce herself as a potential contender for the title.

Prediction: Kerber in 2.

Evgeniya Rodina vs. Laura Robson

It’s great to see the big hitting Robson back on court, especially at her home Slam. Unfortunately, the likeable Brit is still incredibly rusty from her time off court, having lost in the first round of qualifying in Eastbourne last week to average grass court player Daria Gavrilova, 6-0, 6-1. It would be great to see Robson win her first match here, but it’s difficult to see her doing it against someone who moves and strikes the ball as well and consistently as Rodina. Rodina is by no means a dynamic player, but her consistency should be enough to take this match. Hopefully Robson can use it to get some much needed court time on her path back to the Top 100.

Prediction: Rodina in 2.

More from Lob and Smash

Home/Majors