We've got three picks from the second round of the WTA Open delle Puglie in Foggia today, with temperatures around 77°F and a bit of rain in the air. All three are first meetings, so there's not much history to lean on, but the matchups themselves tell a decent story. Who do you think comes through?
WTA Open delle Puglie - Foggia Predictions
Mayar Sherif vs Georgia Pedone
Head-to-head: First meeting
On paper, Sherif is the higher-ranked player and has solid clay-court experience, but ranking gaps mean a lot less at this level of the draw and Pedone is an Italian playing at home in front of a crowd that will be firmly behind her. That kind of energy on a slow clay court in a tight match can genuinely shift things and Sherif hasn't been ranked inside the top 100 in a while, so she's not exactly in peak form.
Pedone takes this one in three.
Prediction: Pedone in 3
Laura Mair vs Lucia Bronzetti
Head-to-head: First meeting
Bronzetti is ranked 172nd but has been much higher and knows how to play clay in Italy, so this feels like a comfortable afternoon for her against Mair, who is ranked outside the top 500. Hard to see this being competitive at all, given the gap in experience and ball-striking on this surface.
Prediction: Bronzetti in 3
Leyre Romero Gormaz vs Viola Turini
Head-to-head: First meeting
Romero Gormaz is ranked 158th and Turini is 752nd, so the ranking gap here is enormous and this shouldn't be particularly close. That said, Turini is Italian and the home crowd factor, which tends to carry real weight at smaller clay events like this, is real and clay always gives lower-ranked players a surface to hang around on. Romero Gormaz should have enough to get through, all things considered.
Prediction: Gormaz in 3
For full predictions on ATP and WTA matches today, check out Uppset.
Credit Image: © Matthieu Mirville/ZUMA Press Wire