Some of the first round action at the 2023 Prague Open will see Kateryna Baindl take on Dayana Yastremska and Xinyu Wang play Viktoria Hruncakova. Get the latest predictions along with the odds, preview and head to head for these matches along with Viktoriya Tomova v Tamara Korpatsch and Sara Errani v Nao Hibino.
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Kateryna Baindl v Dayana Yastremska Preview
Head-to-Head: Yastremska won their only meeting in 2021.
In an all-Ukrainian first round contest world no. 98 Kateryna Baindl will take on world no. 149 Dayana Yastremska.
Baindl, who is seeded no. 8th in the tournament, was in the final of the Budapest Open recently. However, she could not win her maiden WTA title as she went down to Maria Timofeeva. She will still be delighted with that performance though as she has mostly struggled this season.
The 29-year-old is 10-14 from all her matches this year. In addition to the runner-up finish in Budapest, she had also made it to the third round at the Australian Open (her best ever result at a Grand Slam) and she will look to draw inspiration from that performance as she heads back to hard courts.
Baindl’s opponent Yastremska is coming off a brilliant qualifying campaign in Prague. The 23-year-old knocked out Czech Republic’s Tereza Valentova 6-1, 6-4 in the first qualifying round and then handed India’s Ankita Raina a 6-0, 6-0 drubbing in the second qualifying round on Sunday.
Yastremska is 26-21 across levels and 11-9 on hard courts in 2023. She has however, mostly earned her wins in the qualifying and lower level tournaments.
She has not gone beyond the second round at the tour level this year.
Kateryna Baindl v Dayana Yastremska Tip
With two crushing wins in the qualifying rounds, Yastremska heads into this match with a lot of confidence. Baindl, meanwhile, will be playing on hard court for teh first time since January. So its advantage Yastremska. Yastremska to win: 1/3
Xinyu Wang v Viktoria Hruncakova Preview
Head-to-Head: This will be a first meeting between the two.
Seventh seed Wang Xinyu has performed decently on hard courts this season. The world no. 73 was a semifinalist in Hua Hin and a quarterfinalist in Hobart.
She has played eight tour level tournaments on hard court this year and has gone past at least the first round in seven of them.
Wang is making her third appearance in Prague and will look to match or better her previous best, which was a semifinal finish in 2021.
Her opponent, Slovakia’s Viktoria Hruncakova is making her fourth main draw appearance in Prague. The world no. 117 was a quarterfinalist in the tournament in 2021.
Hruncakova, who is 25-20 across levels this year, qualified for the main draw with back-to-back straight set wins over Renata Voráčová and Chloé Paquet respectively.
Hruncakova’s best on hard court this year was a quarterfinal finish in Auckland, while overall, her best was a semifinal finish in ‘s-Hertognbosch. Additionally, she has also had a runner-up finish at an ITF tournament.
Xinyu Wang v Viktoria Hruncakova Tip
Wang has been far more consistent on hard courts and therefore is the favourite. Wang to win: 4/6
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Viktoriya Tomova v Tamara Korpatsch Preview
Head-to-Head: Korpatsch leads the rivalry 5-0. This will be a first tour level meeting
World no. 103 Viktoriya Tomova is coming to the Prague Open for the second time. Last year, on her debut, the Bulgarian went down in the round of 16.
Tomova is 27-22 across levels in 2023. While she has done well in qualifying rounds this year, Tomova hasn’t had a lot of success in the opening round matches. However, some of her notable first round wins include the ones in Wimbledon, Dubai and Miami.
Tomova’s opponent, world no. 99 Tamara Korpatsch of Germany, has come through the qualifying rounds. Korpatsch defeated Czech Republic’s Nikola Bartunkova 6-4, 6-1 on Saturday and then knocked out another Czech player, Dominika Salkova 6-3, 6-2 in the second qualifying round on Sunday.
Korpatsch in into the main draw in Prague for the third time. Her best was a last eight finish in 2019. She is 16-21 across levels.
A clay court specialist, Korpatsch has very little experience on hard courts and this year she is 2-4 from all her matches on the surface.
Viktoriya Tomova v Tamara Korpatsch Tip
Tomova is a much better player on hard courts and stats can confirm that. Expect the Bulgarian to ease past the qualifier. Tomova to win: 1/3
Sara Errani v Nao Hibino Preview
Head-to-Head: This will be a first meeting between the two
The 36-year-old Sara Errani will be making her first appearance in Prague.
The world no. 119 will be playing on hard court for the first time since March, but she has done well on the surface, winning an ITF title in Arcadia in March.
A nine-time tour level champion, the former world no. 5, Errani is 25-20 across levels this season. She has been very good in WTA 125 tournaments this year, finishing as a runner-up in San Luis Potosi, a semifinalist in Florence and making the quarterfinals in two other tournaments (all of those tournaments were on clay). Can she get off to a good start in the Czech Republic.
Taking on the Italian is Japan’s Nao Hibino, who went down to Colombia’s Emiliana Arango 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 in the second qualifying round on Sunday, but still made it to the main draw as a lucky loser.
Hibino had beaten Germany’s Yana Morderger 6-3, 6-3 in the first qualifying round on Saturday.
Hibino had also made it to the main draw as a lucky loser last year, when she had gone on to reach the quarterfinals. She is 29-21 overall this year and that includes an ITF title on hard court.
Sara Errani v Nao Hibino Tip
This is going to be a close contest. Errani is more experience but has done better on clay this year and has not played on hard courts for a while. HIbino has played a few hard court matches recently, so that may give her slight edge in the contest. Over 21.5 games in the match: 4/5
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The 2023 Prague Open will be played from July 31 to August 6. Get our ultimate guide on tennis betting and predictions here.
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