A couple of second round matches to preview from the WTA grass court event in Ilkley. Let's get into it.
WTA Lexus Ilkley Open Predictions
Lulu Sun vs Mary Stoiana
Head-to-head: Sun 0-1 Stoiana
The one previous meeting went Stoiana's way and there's no real reason to think Sun flips it here. Sun has shown flashes on grass before, reaching the Wimbledon fourth round last year as a wildcard, but that kind of run is hard to replicate and her ranking has drifted since. Stoiana is the lower-ranked player on paper but she's the one with the psychological edge coming in.
I think this goes the distance, but Stoiana gets it done, all things considered.
Prediction: Stoiana in 3
Tatiana Prozorova vs Sinja Kraus
Head-to-head: Prozorova 1-1 Kraus
All square between these two, and Kraus holds the ranking advantage at 92 versus Prozorova's 172, which, for a grass court event at this level, matters a great deal when experience and confidence can carry you a long way. That said, grass does have a way of levelling things out more than hard courts do, and Prozorova has clearly found something on this surface to get through to the second round. Feels like it goes three sets either way.
Prozorova takes it.
Prediction: Prozorova in 3
For full predictions on ATP and WTA matches today, check out Uppset.
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