1. Danka Kovinic v Belinda Bencic (Charleston, R2)

In a first career meeting, Belinda Bencic and Danka Kovinic will meet in Charleston on Wednesday.  Considering their respective journeys on tour, it came as a surprise to learn that Kovinic is two years older than Bencic.  Kovinic, currently ranked at 121 in the world, has made few ventures onto the WTA tour with quarter-final appearances in Bucharest (2014) and Budapest (2013) her best showings to date.  Apart from reaching an ITF final in Curitiba earlier this year, Kovinic hasn’t set the world alight in 2015.  This week in Charleston, she has come through two rounds of qualifying to make the main draw; her first qualifying match was a 6-0 6-0 win and her second match was decided in a third set tiebreak!

In the first round, Kovinic comprehensively outplayed Christina McHale, 6-2 6-3 to bag a superb win.  I watched the first set of that match and was very impressed by Kovinic.  She was hitting plenty of winners from the back of the court and served extremely well.  McHale was wayward with her shots early on and never looked like getting involved in the match.  Bencic, returning to Charleston after reaching the semi-finals last year, won her first match of the week against Casey Dellacqua.  It was a repeat match-up for the Swiss player who had beaten Dellacqua in her last tournament in Miami, 6-2 4-6 6-2.  This time round Belinda was on court for just 71 minutes as she won, 6-1 6-2.

Bencic has been gathering momentum in the last month after a slow start to the year.  She reached the last 16 at both Indian Wells and Miami, and is playing some quality tennis again.  This won’t be an easy match as Kovinic is also playing well right now and will have the confidence from three victories on the green clay; however i’d fancy Belinda’s superior experience at this level to see her through this match.

Prediction: Bencic d. Kovinic in 3 sets

 2. Sloane Stephens v Mona Barthel (Charleston, R2)

Sloane Stephens and Mona Barthel both enjoyed their first ever main draw wins at the Family Circle Cup to set up a second round match.  Stephens came from a set down to defeat Bethanie Mattek-Sands in three sets, 3-6 6-3 6-2 on Tuesday.  It was one of Sloane’s best wins of the year as she got stuck in and turned the match around against an impressive Mattek-Sands.  For a full recap of the match, click HERE.  Barthel was equally good and needed just the two sets to take out Timea Babos, 6-3 6-3 (see match recap HERE).  In their only previous match, Stephens prevailed in Canada in 2013, 6-3 4-6 6-3.  Both players have really watchable games from the baseline whennnnn they are in full flow.  Both however, have the ability to completely go off their games.  Stephens’s results have been consistently good in the last month while Barthel has, on the whole, been more defensive in 2015 and looking to get more balls back.  She was much more aggressive though against Babos.  The extra day of rest will help Mona, but Sloane’s victory over Beth is the biggest factor for me.

Prediction: Stephens d. Barthel in 2 tight sets

WTA Charleston 2nd Round Predictions

Eugenie Bouchard d. Lauren Davis in 2 sets

Ajla Tomljanovic d. Andreea Mitu in 3 sets

Madison Keys d. Kateryna Bondarenko in 2 tight sets

Sara Errani d. Jana Cepelova in 2 tight sets

Shelby Rogers d. Sara Sorribes Tormo in 3 sets

Donna Vekic d. Madison Brengle in 3 tight sets

Sam Stosur d. Lara Arruabarrena in 2 sets

Yaroslava Shvedova d. Irina-Camelia Begu in 3 sets

Ekaterina Makarova d. Shuai Zhang in 2 sets