A few first-round picks from the HSBC Championships in London to get into today, all on the grass at Queen's Club. We've got a home crowd match, a wildcard upset candidate, and a rematch between two players who've split their previous meetings. Let's get into it.
WTA The HSBC Championships - London Predictions
Katie Boulter vs Leylah Annie Fernandez
Head-to-head: Boulter 2-1 Fernandez
Boulter leads this rivalry and, crucially, both of her wins came on grass, so this surface genuinely suits her in this matchup. She's the lower-ranked player here by some distance, but Fernandez has never looked particularly comfortable on grass and Boulter at home with a crowd behind her is a different animal entirely. The ranking gap doesn't tell the story of how these two actually match up.
Fernandez is a fighter and she'll make Boulter work, but I think the big serve, the flat groundstrokes, and the home support all point the same direction here.
Prediction: Boulter in 2
Laura Siegemund vs Francesca Jones
Head-to-head: Siegemund 1-1 Jones
Jones is a crowd favorite in Britain and she's comfortable on grass, so this one won't be straightforward. Siegemund is the better player on paper and has the ranking to back it up, but their previous meetings are split and neither result came on this surface, so there's genuine uncertainty here. That said, Siegemund's variety and net game tend to translate well to grass, and that feels like the edge she'll need.
Prediction: Siegemund in 3
Mika Stojsavljevic vs Marta Kostyuk
Head-to-head: First meeting
This is the one. Stojsavljevic is a British wildcard ranked 288th in the world, and Kostyuk is 15th, so on paper this is hard to see being competitive at all. But Stojsavljevic grew up playing on British grass and she'll have the crowd absolutely behind her, and wildcards on home grass in the first round of these smaller events have a way of causing chaos. Kostyuk is a solid hardcourt player and grass, a surface she's rarely looked fully at ease on, has never been her most natural. Don't be shocked if this gets uncomfortable for her.
Prediction: Stojsavljevic in 3
For full predictions on ATP and WTA matches today, check out Uppset.
Credit Image: © Irina R. Hipolito/AFP7 via ZUMA Press Wire