The 2019 WTA Korea Open 2019 continues on Wednesday, September 18 as some of the seeded players take to court for their second round matches. Here’re the Ekaterina Alexandrova v Kristyna Pliskova & Magda Linette v Anastasia Potapova tips and predictions with their previews.
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Ekaterina Alexandrova v Kristyna Pliskova Preview & Predictions
This will be the first match-up between the second seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova and Kristyna Pliskova and both are entering into this match with easy first round wins. Alexandrova was a 6-4, 6-3 winner over Greet Minnen while Pliskova defeated Ji-Hee Choi, a local wildcard entrant 6-1, 6-4 to proceed to set up this match-up.
It’s not been the best of seasons for Alexandrova but she is still 12-9 on hard court surfaces, thanks mainly due to her showing at the Toronto Open. Starting off in the qualifiers, the Russian registered four successive straight-set wins to make it to the third round where she went down to Serena Williams.
Before that, she had entered the third round at Indian Wells too, and was a quarter-finalist at the St. Petersburg Open. On the other hand, Pliskova’s form has been flaky, with more losses than wins on hard court surfaces and apart from a couple of tournaments in Lugano and Birmingham, things have generally been underwhelming from the elder Pliskova.
Tip: Alexandrova to win: 1/2 (Unibet)
Magda Linette v Anastasia Potapova Preview & Predictions
Poland’s Magda Linette, with a title win at the New York Open under her belt, has risen to 48th in the world, just three places behind her career-best. While a quarter-final defeat at Nanchang might not made her too happy, she looked to have channeled that in the right place to win her opener here. Linette was a 6-1, 6-4 winner over Irina Begu.
Now comes a sterner test though with Anastasia Potapova ranked 75th in the world, and having shown signs of putting up a fight every time she is on court. The 18-year-old made the round of 16 after qualifying for the New York Open and even in her losses, looks to push her opponents hard.
Potapova is coming off a straight-set win over Na-Lae Han in the first round and will now be looking to make it 2-0 on head against Linette. Their previous match had come earlier this year on clay in Madrid, with Potapova winning in three sets. On hard courts though, it could be a different matter.
Tip: Linette to win in three sets: 3/1 (888Sport)
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Wang Yafan v Ysaline Bonaventure Preview & Predictions
Finally a win for Wang Yafan, following on from a string of underwhelming performances and defeats. In fact, after winning just a set over the last four matches, Yafan registered her first victory, defeating USA’s Danielle Lao in her first round match. She won 6-4, 7-6.
Her second round opponent, the 125th-ranked Belgian Ysaline Bonaventure, has never seen the top 100 on the WTA rankings charts, and was herself coming into the tournament on the back of some horrid string of results. Since qualifying for the first round at Wimbledon, Bonaventure had a 1-6 win-loss ratio coming into this tournament in Seoul.
Which is also why her win over Jessica Pegula was a shocker, a three-setter that she could well have gone down in before fighting back to win it. Wang Yafan, however, should prove to be too strong.
Tip: Yafan to win in straight sets: 11/10 (Unibet)
Kristie Ahn v Ana Bogdan Preview & Predictions
This is the second time that Kristie Ahn and Ana Bogdan will be locking horns. In their first ever encounter, Ahn had run her opponent down in a gripping three-setter that saw a tie-breaker in the final set but it was on the ITF circuit and on clay.
Far removed from those settings, the two meet again in the second round of the Seoul Open on a hard court surface. And having reached this stage in contrasting circumstances.
Ahn, who has a wonderful story around her about making the fourth round at the US Open following a decision to not take up a corporate job despite been a Stanford graduate, was in ripping form in the first round. Playing in her first tournament since that Flushing Meadows success, Ahn registered a 6-0, 6-0 win over Timea Bacsinszky in her opener.
On the other hand, Bogdan, a qualifier, fought in a three-setter to overcome Polona Hercog in her first round match. She had made the second round at the US Open too and while she will start a second favourite here, expect her to put up a fight.
Tip: Three sets in the match: 1/1 (888Sport)