Tennis: Abrams picks six 2nd round matches at the WTA Volvo Car Open in Charleston

WTA Volvo Car Open
Wednesday, April 3, 2019
Second Round picks

Lauren Davis over Mihaela Buzarnescu
How can Mihaela Buzarnescu be the 12th seed here in Charlestown, South Carolina? She sports a 1-10 win/loss record, year-to-date, and at age 30 she must be nearing the end of a 15-year run on the WTA Tour. But she IS the 12th seed, and that makes it all the better for one of my favorite pros on the women’s Tour, American Lauren Davis. Davis picked up a nice win in the first round here over Belgian Ysaline Bonaventura after having dropped the second set 6-0, and I think she finds the slow har-tru surface to her liking. It certainly aids her counter-punching, retriever style, for the Ohio native never gives up. Buzarnescu has two attributes that could give Davis trouble: first, she’s relatively tall, at 5’9”, which aids the Romanian’s serve and allows her to take big steps, and she’s left-handed, which tends to change the rhythm and sequence of the backcourt rallies. But the surface should nullify any impact those two advantages give Buzarnescu, and the cold weather should blunt the Romanian’s extra power. I like Davis here, as she’ll outlast Buzarnescu.

Caroline Wozniacki over Laura Siegemund
Wozniacki has just announced that she is suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, an affliction that is very common around the world, but not so common for 28-year-olds. But this affliction shouldn’t deter Wozniacki from fighting for ranking points here in South Carolina. Siegemund, a 31-year-old German, took out 17-year-old American Emma Navarro, the U.S. National 18 & Under champion from right here in Charleston, yesterday on a very cold and winter-like night. The hometown folks had someone to cheer for, and they turned out, including a lot of Navarro’s high school friends, in the hope that the teenager could give them a win. But Siegemund was far too crafty for the youngster and sent her home by moving her side to side and then often finished off the points by hitting really well placed drop shots that Navarro didn’t read well and couldn’t get too. Wozniacki won’t let Siegemund get away with that style, as the Dane’s groundstrokes are far too strong to allow Siegemund to attack, especially like that. I see Woz running away with this match.

Belinda Bencic over Allie Kick
Belinda Bencic is 18-5 this year, with more wins than almost all of the pros on the women’s tour save four or five competitors. She’s playing well and has already pocketed over $1 million in prize money, which is quite an accomplishment considering it’s only the first tournament of the second Quarter. American Allie Kick, 23, is starting to play some good tennis, and is aiming to get into the main draws of the Grand Slams, but is banging against one of the Tour’s better players in Bencic. If Kick can keep the ball going and work Bencic into disadvantageous positions, the American can win, but at this point in her career I think it is asking a bit too much of the Florida resident. I think the Swiss Miss will be too strong for Kick.

Julia Georges over Taylor Townsend
One thing’s for sure: the USTA takes care of it’s own. Taylor Townsend, one of the favorites of those who run the USTA, has been given Wild Card entries into as many events as possible over the past five years. By doing so, the USTA has not only subsidized her financially (because everyone in the draw gets paid), but have also given her “free” ranking points, which have enabled Townsend to get into the main draws of certain tournaments that she would not have been able to get into otherwise, without qualifying. Still, the powers that be would like her to lose 25 pounds, and when I see her move, I agree wholeheartedly. She’s generally okay moving from side to side, but when a player drop-shots and lobs her, the American suffers. When the day comes that Townsend is no longer a WTA “favorite,” and it’s coming sooner rather than later, she’ll disappear into the ether, like so many before her. But until then, she can be cannon fodder for successful Tour veterans like Germany’s Julia Georges. The 30-year-old German, who is 5’11”, has won $9 million in prize money in her 14-year career, and is a solid, dependable player. Townsend tends to spray balls all over (and beyond) the court, so if Georges simply keeps the ball in, she’ll roll.

Madison Keys over Tatjana Maria
Keys is one of those players that is so streaky that if she’s playing well she can take out any player on the Tour, yet she possesses the unfortunate ability to lay an egg at almost any time and represent a good win for pretty much any of the other players. Still, here, I think she’ll get by Maria, the German who now lives in Florida. Keys does everything better, harder, and faster than Maria, and as long as she keeps her wits about her on the slow, cold surface, she should roll. But, of course, Keys could always be her own worst enemy and make this into a dogfight, so you never know.

Jelena Ostapenko over Shelby Rogers
Shelby Rogers is coming back to the Tour after injury and surgery at her hometown tournament here in Charlestown. The comeback has already been successful as she knocked out Evgeniya Rodian 6-4, 6-2 in the first round yesterday in her first match of the year. Unfortunately for the American, though, I rather doubt that Rogers has the wherewithall to withstand the onslaught of Ostapenko. Ostapenko, the 21-year-old Latvian, is a former French Open champion, and makes her living winning clay-court matches. Although Rogers will get a lot of support from her Charlestown friends and fans, they won’t be able to will her through this match. Unless Rogers is farther along in her recovery than it appears to me, she’ll fall to the 21-year-old Ostapenko.