We've got three picks from the Berlin qualifying draw today, and with grass season just getting started it's one of the more interesting slates to look at. Which of these players do you think punches through to the main draw?
WTA Berlin Tennis Open Predictions
Ekaterina Alexandrova vs Anastasia Potapova
Head-to-head: Alexandrova 1-1 Potapova
These two are level at one apiece, and given both are Russian players who know each other's games inside out, it's rarely straightforward when they meet. Potapova's flat, aggressive ball-striking is well suited to grass, where she can take time away from opponents and keep points short, and that feels like a real factor here.
Alexandrova is the higher-ranked player and a solid grass-courter in her own right, but Potapova has the kind of game that can run away with a match quickly when it's clicking. This one probably goes three, and I think Potapova finds enough to get through, all things considered.
Prediction: Potapova in 3
Diane Parry vs Ella Seidel
Head-to-head: Parry 0-1 Seidel
Seidel leads the head-to-head and is the home crowd favorite here in Berlin, so there's a bit of a storyline, but Parry is the meaningfully better player on paper at this stage of their careers. The ranking gap is real and on grass Parry's clean, controlled game should give her enough margin to manage the occasion even if Seidel makes it uncomfortable early.
Hard to see this being competitive at all given Seidel won't go quietly on home soil.
Prediction: Parry in 3
Maria Timofeeva vs Renata Zarazua
Head-to-head: First meeting
Zarazua is ranked higher here and has been a consistent presence on tour, but grass has never really been her surface and Timofeeva's game tends to travel well on faster courts. That said, first meetings are always a bit of a coin flip, but the surface split feels like it matters more than the ranking in this one. Timofeeva gets through.
Prediction: Timofeeva in 3
For full predictions on ATP and WTA matches today, check out Uppset.
Credit Image: © Rodrigo Reyes Marin/ZUMA Press Wire