Thursday’s schedule in Antwerp is excellent with seven of the eight second round matches still to be played.  On Wednesday, Dominika Cibulkova opened her tournament campaign with a very convincing victory over Kateryna Bondarenko, 6-1 6-2.  It’s always nice when your predicted champion isn’t ousted in the first round!  Antwerp seems to be delivering both on and off the court this week.  For all the latest happenings in Belgium, check out Women’s Tennis Blog and Jimmie48 on Twitter.  Here’s a quartet of previews for your viewing pleasure…

1. Eugenie Bouchard v Mona Barthel

Eugenie Bouchard will play her first match since the Australian Open when she goes up against Mona Barthel in Antwerp on Thursday.  Barthel had a routine first round win over the Beligan qualifier, Klaartje Liebens, 6-2 6-0.  Barthel hit 18 winners to just 4 unforced errors and served out both sets to 15.  For Mona fans, this is a joy! Barthel is such a beautiful ball striker and there is so much potential in her game that is yet to be unlocked.  Mona does have the tendency to get very passive and nervy when matches get close and that is something that she will have to overcome if she is to keep climbing up the rankings.  In their only previous match, Bouchard beat Barthel in Wuhan at the back end of 2014, 4-6 6-3 6-4.  Bouchard could be rusty so I wouldn’t be surprised if there was an upset in this match.  I’d favour Genie’s better mental toughness to see her through into the quarters.

Prediction: Bouchard d. Barthel in 3 sets

2. Angelique Kerber v Francesca Schiavone

Francesca Schiavone has won four matches in Antwerp after going winless through the first month of the year.  In fact this is the third consecutive year that Schiavone has begun the year with a losing record down under.  In 2013, she lost her first four matches of the year and in 2014, she lost her first SEVEN matches, not snapping the streak until Indian Wells in March.  In Antwerp, Schiavone earnt wins over Lyudmyla  Kichenok, Oceane Dodin and Anna-Lena Friedsam to qualify for the main draw.  She then defeated a tearful, Klara Koukalova, 6-3 6-1 in the first round to secure her fifth consecutive victory against the Czech player.  Schiavone plays the number two seed, Angelique Kerber in the second round.  Kerber had a good run to the semi-finals in Sydney, but has endured tough losses to Elina Svitolina in Brisbane and Irina-Camelia Begu in Melbourne.  In Fed Cup action, she ended the weekend on a high with a straight sets win over Sam Stosur.  Schiavone leads the head-to-head with Kerber 2-1, but the pair haven’t played since 2013.  Kerber has shown signs of vulnerability this year, but I think she should come through this match relatively unscathed.

Prediction: Kerber d. Schiavone in 2 sets (1 tight, 1 easy)

3. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova v Alize Cornet

WELL HELLO CHEEKY… if any match is going to produce lashings of drama, surely it’s this second rounder between Barbora Zahlavova Strycova and Alize Cornet.  Both are known for their histrionics on court and this could be a cracker.  The tennis should be good as well.  Cornet was pushed to three sets in her first match of the week against Belinda Bencic, winning 1-6 6-2 7-5.  The third set sounded like a lot of fun.  Zahlavova Strycova was never troubled in a comfortable 6-2 6-2 victory over Yanina Wickmayer.  For a full recap of the Zahlavova Strycova-Wickmayer match click HERE.  Wickmayer had been struggling with an injury, which may have explained her poor performance.

The head-to-head between Cornet and Zahlavova Strycova is one-sided… Cornet has won all five matches the pair have played.  The most recent of those came in Paris where Cornet prevailed in a three setter at the same stage of last year, 6-3 6-7(2) 6-3.  BZS has become a much smarter player on court and despite the head-to-head, i’m going to be brave and go for the upset.  I’ll be disappointed if this doesn’t go three sets…

Prediction: Zahlavova Strycova d. Cornet in 3 sets

4. Lucie Safarova v Kristina Mladenovic 

Lucie Safarova will be searching for her first WTA main draw win of the year when she takes on Kristina Mladenovic in Antwerp.  After some impressive performances in the Hopman Cup, Lucie lost in the first round of Sydney to Sam Stosur (7-6(3) 5-7 6-3) and the first round of Melbourne to Yaroslava Shvedova (6-4 2-6 8-6).  The latter was a really tough loss, cushioned somewhat by a victory in the women’s doubles which was Lucie’s first Grand Slam title.  Mladenovic, the world number 74, has shown glimpses of form, but her most impressive performances have come in doubles.  Mladenovic took out Sabine Lisicki at the Australian Open and had a big weekend in Fed Cup where she beat Sara Errani on indoor clay.  She benefitted from a withdrawal in her first match in Antwerp when Silvia Soler-Espinosa retired at 6-2 1-0 down.  I’m worried about this match-up for Lucie, particularly as Mladenovic won when the pair played in Washington last year, 2-6 6-3 6-3.  Hopefully Lucie can bring some of the confidence she must have gained from her doubles win with Bethanie Mattek-Sands.  I’m slightly wary, but I know she will have great support…

Prediction: Safarova d. Mladenovic in 3 sets

WTA Antwerp 2nd Round Predictions

Dominika Cibulkova d. Indy De Vroome in 2 sets

Karolina Pliskova d. Annika Beck in 3 sets

Carla Suarez Navarro d. Monica Niculescu in 2 tight sets