The remaining second round matches at the 2019 Tianjin Open will be played on Thursday, October 10 as Qiang Wang leads the seeded players to court. Here’s Qiang Wang v Heather Watson and Dayana Yastremska v Peng Shuai tips, previews and predictions along with a couple of other matches for today.
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Qiang Wang v Heather Watson Predictions & Preview
The two 27-year-olds Qiang Wang and Heather Watson will be facing off for the first time in their careers, playing in the second round of the Tianjin Open.
Ranked 22nd in the world, Wang did not waste too much time getting past Arina Rodionova in her first round win, having entered the tournament on the back of two successive losses before that. In fact since her stinging loss to Serena Williams in the US Open quarter-finals, Wang was 1-3 on win-loss entering this competition; so that win against Rodionova should be confidence-boosting.
And now she faces the 125th-ranked Watson, who has featured in a few tournaments at the lower ITF circuit, winning two of them this year including one recently at Vancouver. Her inability to reach the main draws of WTA events post that has been telling but an opening win against Kateryna Bondarenko should reduce the pressure on her shoulders.
That said, Wang looks to be a far superior player even considering her recent underwhelming form and should sail through to the quarterfinals here.
Tip: Qiang Wang to win in straight sets: 13/20 with Unibet
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Dayana Yastremska v Peng Shuai Predictions & Preview
World number 23 Dayana Yastremska will be in second round action against Peng Shuai in what will be their second meeting. Yastremska had won the first time in a match that was played earlier this year at the Hua Hin Open, clinching it in straight sets. And by the looks of how recent form has been for the two players, it could well be a straightforward result for Yastremska yet again.
Yastremska is in the form of her life this year, having risen to her career-best 23rd spot on the WTA Rankings already. She didn’t have the greatest China Open campaign where she lost in the second round but a third round at the US Open and quarter-final at Wuhan have helped. As had the title at Hua Hin, the same tournament she had beaten Shuai in.
Peng Shuai had entered this competition on the back of three successive losses. She did win her first round match here in straight sets but you would expect that against the 225th-ranked Xiaodi You, who still managed to stretch her to a tie-breaker. Yastremska should have no difficulties getting past Shuai here.
Tip: Yastremska to win in straight sets: 10/11 with Unibet
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Zheng Saisai v Veronika Kudermetova Predictions & Preview
This will be the first meeting between two players who look evenly matched on paper. Zheng Saisai, ranked 38th in the world, has already won the San Jose Open on a hard court surface this season, and is coming off a third round appearance at the China Open. She lost to Ash Barty in that match.
Kudermetova, a 22-year-old Russian is just seven places behind Saisai on the WTA charts and enters this competition on the back of a 24-11 win-loss record on the same surface. That includes a title win of her own, a semi-final at Hiroshima and third round at the Wuhan Open recently.
With very little to separate these two, a three-setter looks a likely result but tough to pick a winner.
Tip: Three sets in the match: 8/5 with Unibet
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Magda Linette v Kurumi Nara Predictions & Preview
Magda Linette takes on Kurumi Nara in this second round match at the Tianjin Open and these are familiar foes having faced off four times already. Nara leads 3-1 but their last meeting came all the way back in 2017, following which Nara’s form has dropped while Linette has risen to 42nd in the world.
So much so that Linette isn’t just a favourite to win this one here but odds on to win this in straight sets. Her form seems to suggest those are expected odds with the Polish player having won the New York Open in August and made it to the final at Seoul recently. And when faced with the possibility of a tough opening round match against Christina McHale, she brushed her opponent aside in straight sets too.
Nara was a surprise, three-set winner over Harriet Dart in her first round, which incidentally was her first main draw match in three tournaments. And even at Hiroshima before that where she featured in the main draw, it was a wild-card that had got here there.
So while we expect Nara to make a fist of this one – she has always been known to be a fighter – Linette is favourite to win in straights.
Tip: Linette to win in straight sets: 10/11 with Unibet
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