Elise Mertens vs Katerina Siniakova Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Rome

Prediction published on 09/05/2024, 02:27  by Daniel Ngulu | Modified on 09/05/2024 at 21:00 in Tennis Predictions

World number 36 Katerina Siniakova will play 27th seed Elise Mertens in the second round at the Italian Open. The winner will play Elena Rybakina, Irina-Camelia Begu or Rebeka Masarova in the third round. Elise Mertens has arrived in Rome in poor form. She has lost five times in her last eight fixtures and is on a two-match skid. The Belgian however has the upper hand against Siniakova and will be confident of making a winning start here. Mertens, who is making her fifth appearance in Rome, has never lost to Siniakova. She has won all four previous matchups with the most recent success being three seasons ago in Istanbul. The 2020 Italian Open quarter-finalist is coming off a second-round exit in Madrid. She is currently up two places in the live ranking at 28th.

Katerina Siniakova is in the best form she has been in all season. The Czech athlete has won her last six matches and arrived in Rome after winning the Lleida Challenger. This momentum propelled her to a straight sets victory in round one. Siniakova, making her Rome return after a three-year hiatus, eliminated the wildcard Nuria Brancaccio by the loss of six games. This allowed her to improve her record to 16-10 and move up one place to 35th in the live ranking. The 27-year-old’s hot streak should have her extremely confident of ending Mertens’ winning run against her. If she manages this, she will advance to the third round for the first time here. Siniakova has been eliminated in the second round in each of her last three main draw appearances in Rome.