Predicted Winners in BOLD

Center Court (11 a.m. start)

[9] Venus Williams (USA) vs. [Q] Ashleigh Barty (AUS) – Venus should win this match, but Barty is no slouch.

[1] Karolina Pliskova (CZE) vs. [LL] Natalia Vikhlyantseva (RUS) – How heavy is the crown of #1?

Grandstand

[16] Madison Keys (USA) vs. Daria Kasatkina (RUS)

[3] Angelique Kerber (GER) vs. Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) – This is not a prediction I expected to be making last year when Kerber was routinely making the final round or winning big events.

Stadium 3

[14] Petra Kvitova (CZE) vs. [WC] Sloane Stephens (USA)  – I think the combination of August in Cincinnati and Stephens return to form are too much for Petra Kvitova today.

[5] Elina Svitolina (UKR) vs. Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) – The battle for the Ukraine? 

Court 10

[8] Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) vs. Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) – Kuznetsova keeps plugging away and getting wins.

[6] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) vs. Elena Vesnina (RUS) – A gut  feeling

Court 4

[15] Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) vs. Roberta Vinci (ITA)

[11] Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) vs. Alizé Cornet (FRA) – I didn’t think Cibulkova would win in round 1 so my pick could be suspect.

 Court 7

Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP) vs. [Q]  Aleksandra Krunic (SRB) 

Daria Gavrilova (AUS) vs. Camila Giorgi (ITA) – Can the young Aussie build upon a solid first round win?

Julia Goerges (GER) vs. [Q] Francoise Abanda (CAN) – Canadian Content might not last long in Ohio.