Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the WTA Madrid match.
Ekaterina Aleksandrova is set to begin her campaign at the tournament, while Olga Danilovich has already progressed past Victoria Azarenka with a straight-sets win (2:0).
Ekaterina Aleksandrova
After early eliminations at the tournaments in the United States, Ekaterina Aleksandrova made good use of a two-week break and has since produced some highly impressive performances. She reached the semi-finals in both Stuttgart and Charleston. Notably, the latter was also played on clay—a surface where Aleksandrova looks especially confident. Along the way, she defeated Diana Shnaider, ranked No.13 in the WTA standings, and Qinwen Zheng, ranked No.8, both in straight sets. Her only defeat came at the hands of Jessica Pegula, the world No.3, in a closely fought match that was decided by a third-set tie-break.
Olga Danilovich
Olga Danilovich, by contrast, has mainly featured in lower-tier tournaments, where the standard of opposition is noticeably lower. She did reach the final in Rouen, but faced opponents mostly ranked outside the WTA top 50, so those results offer little insight at this level.
Ekaterina Aleksandrova vs Olga Danilovich Prediction
Ekaterina Aleksandrova comes into this match as the clear favourite. She is in excellent form, and the relatively modest threat posed by Olga Danilovich is unlikely to present any major challenges.
