A few picks from the opening round of qualifying at Nottingham, where the grass season is just getting started. Qualifying on grass is always a bit of a lottery, especially early in the season when nobody's quite found their footing yet. Who do you think makes it through?
WTA Lexus Nottingham Open Predictions
Viktorija Golubic vs Veronika Erjavec
Head-to-head: First meeting
Golubic is one of the better grass-court players on the WTA tour and has made some deep runs at Wimbledon over the years, so this surface genuinely suits her. Erjavec is ranked 89th and hasn't shown much on this surface at tour level and I think the gap in grass-court experience is the deciding factor here.
That said, qualifying matches in round one can be scrappy and Golubic hasn't been in the best form this season, so I wouldn't be shocked if it goes three sets.
Prediction: Golubic in 3
Zeynep Sonmez vs Lanlana Tararudee
Head-to-head: Sonmez 0-1 Tararudee
Tararudee actually owns the only H2H result between these two, which makes this more interesting than the rankings suggest. That said, Sonmez comes in ranked higher and grass is a tough surface for players from either background here, so hard to see this being competitive in the end. Sonmez should have just enough to flip the result this time around.
Prediction: Sonmez in 3
Panna Udvardy vs Katie Volynets
Head-to-head: First meeting
Volynets has been one of the more improved players on tour over the past year and her game, built around clean ball-striking and solid groundstrokes, actually translates reasonably well to grass. Udvardy is ranked higher, but the gap is small and she's had an inconsistent season. All things considered, Volynets feels like the player with more momentum heading in, and on a surface where confidence matters early in the season, that's not nothing.
Prediction: Volynets in 3
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