Anastasia Potapova vs Sara Errani Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Linz

Prediction published on 29/01/2024, 17:00  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 30/01/2024 at 22:00 in Tennis Predictions

Fifth seed Anastasia Potapova takes on Italian qualifier Sam Errani in the Upper Austria Linz Open first round. Up next for the winner is a last 16 match against either unseeded Elisabetta Cocciaretto or qualifier Lucrezia Stefanni, both of whom hail from Italy. Potapova is 27th in the latest set of rankings and that's only six places below her career high that was attained last June. 2024 has so far seen the 22-year-old get to a quarter final in Brisbane. Veronika Kudermetova was beaten earlier in the tournament but in the last eight, Potapova lost the first set to Elena Rybakina and then retired. The Australian Open didn't go well for her with a first round loss to Kaja Juvan.

Sam Errani is 99th in the current ranking list and had to play two qualifiers to get into the main draw of this indoor hard court tournament. That didn't prove an easy task and began with her winning just one game against Anna Bondar in the first set of round one of qualifying. Errani fought back well though and only lost four games in the next two sets. Her final qualifier went smoother with a straight sets win over Ella Seidel Those wins have seen her rise to 95th in the live rankings. Those wins have kick-started the year for the 36-year-old. Her first two tournaments failed to produce a win or a set won. We tip Potapova to win this match in straight sets and make it into round two.