A few second-round picks from Bad Homburg today, and it's a solid set of matchups on the grass. We've got a couple of first meetings and one rematch with some history behind it, so let's get into it.
WTA Bad Homburg Open Predictions
Liudmila Samsonova vs Elina Svitolina
Head-to-head: First meeting
Svitolina has quietly been building back to her best and grass is a surface that suits her compact, efficient game. She doesn't give you angles, she doesn't give you pace to work with, and on a fast surface that punishes loose hitting, that's a real problem for someone like Samsonova, who relies on her big groundstrokes to take over matches. Samsonova is dangerous when she's on but her game can also go sideways quickly, and Svitolina is exactly the kind of opponent who makes that happen.
I think this goes three sets because Samsonova will have her moments, but Svitolina's experience and consistency on this surface should carry her through, all things considered.
Prediction: Svitolina in 3
Xinyu Wang vs Leylah Annie Fernandez
Head-to-head: First meeting
Fernandez is an interesting case on grass. She's scrappy and competitive and never gives anything away, but the surface doesn't really amplify her strengths the way clay does. Wang has been playing some clean tennis and her flat ball-striking can be genuinely tough to handle on fast courts. These two haven't met before so there's no blueprint to follow, and I feel like that actually suits Wang, who tends to impose her own game rather than adjust to her opponent.
Prediction: Wang in 3
Alexandra Eala vs Elise Mertens
Head-to-head: Eala 0-2 Mertens
Mertens has won both previous meetings, both on hard courts, but Eala has come a long way since those results and has been one of the more exciting stories on tour this season. Mertens is a smart, experienced player who knows how to manage grass-court points, and that experience gap is real. That said, Eala's ball-striking has become so much more decisive and she's stopped panicking when matches get tight. This one is close.
Eala in 3, and it should be a good watch.
Prediction: Eala in 3
For full predictions on ATP and WTA matches today, check out Uppset.
Credit Image: © Matthieu Mirville/ZUMA Press Wire