The WTA 500 in Singapore might not have the deepest field you will ever see at this level, with just one top ten player in the draw, but there is genuine intrigue here for players sitting outside the elite who smell an opportunity to grab ranking points and potentially a meaningful title. Day 3 serves up some compelling matchups, and notably features both players who contested this year’s French Open final.
These two have only met once before, earlier this year at the United Cup, where Mertens edged out a tight three set victory. That scoreline tells you everything about how closely matched they are when they share a court. Krejcikova had a miserable summer by her standards and her ranking has tumbled to around 44 in the world as a result, but anyone who watches her regularly knows that number tells you very little about her actual quality. The two time Grand Slam champion has class all over her game and she will be desperate to remind people of that this week.
Mertens is a seasoned and reliable performer who rarely gives anything away, so this should be another tight contest. That said, I expect Krejcikova’s talent to shine through over the course of three sets as she looks to get her season back on track.
Parks actually leads the head to head at two wins to one, and she has beaten Fernandez in both of their Grand Slam encounters, including at the Australian Open earlier this year. That is a creditable record on paper. However, Fernandez has steadily built herself into a consistent top 50 performer and on balance she is clearly the stronger player of the two right now, even if she has not quite fulfilled the enormous potential she showed when she reached the US Open final a few years back.
Parks has the tools to cause problems with her athleticism and her serve, but Fernandez’s court craft and competitive instincts tend to win out in matches like this. I would back the Canadian to take it, likely needing all three sets given how these two have gone previously.
Chwalinska holds the only previous meeting between these two, which gives her a narrow edge on paper heading into this one. More significantly, she arrives in Singapore off the back of a genuinely turbulent few months since her remarkable run to the French Open final. Her first round win here wly only her second match victory since that tournament, so the form has been difficult to say the least. Still, Singapore feels like the kind of fresh environment where she can start to rediscover herself.
Oliynykova is a scrappy and unpredictable opponent who can make life uncomfortable for anyone on a given day, but Chwalinska has shown she belongs at a high level and I think her greater experience of big moments sees her through here.
Andreeva leads their only previous encounter and arrives in Singapore as the overwhelming favourite to win the whole tournament. She clinched her first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros this year, which is a landmark moment for any player, and even if she has looked slightly short of her absolute peak since then, the drop in level is only marginal. She is comfortably the best player in this draw.
Sasnovich is ranked well outside the top 100 and while she is a capable professional, this is a mismatch in terms of where both players currently sit. Andreeva should move through this one without breaking too much of a sweat and set herself up for a deeper run in the week ahead.
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