By Ros Satar
- Katie Boulter v Jasmine Paolini [6]
- Sonay Kartal v Elina Svitolina [17]
- Emma Raducanu v Marta Kostyuk [24]
MADRID, SPAIN – Katie Boulter, Sonay Kartal and Emma Raducanu are in second round action at the Mutua Madrid Open.
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Katie Boulter v Jasmine Paolini [6] | H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Katie Boulter v Jasmine Paolini [6] | H2H: Tied at 2-2 |
| WTA Madrid | Spain |
| Clay (O) | Prize Money: €30,895 |
| First on Stadium 3 at 11am (10am BST) | Sky/Now TV <- Subscription Required |
Katie Boulter’s tough path in Madrid continues when she faces two-time Grand Slam finalist Jasmine Paolini. The Italia brightened everyone’s French Open as she smiled her way into the final and did it again at Wimbledon – and is also no slouch on the hard courts either.
Boulter’s campaign got a boost when she came from behind to win her first tour-level main draw match on clay. After a stilted start to her season thanks to a foot injury ruling her out of the tour for the whole of February, she would do well to inch herself back in the clay court season and set herself up for the grass.
The pair have met four times and have split their head-to-head always in straight sets, but this will be their first meeting on clay.
Prediction: Paolini in straight sets.
Sonay Kartal v Elina Svitolina [17] | H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Sonay Kartal v Elina Svitolina [17] | H2H: First Meeting |
| WTA Madrid | Spain |
| Clay (O) | Prize Money: €30,895 |
| Third on Court 4, not before 2pm (1pm BST) | Sky/Now TV <- Subscription Required |
Sonay Kartal’s Madrid debut has gone well, with a straight-sets win in her opener against Jaqueline Cristian and shows that her under0the0radar advancement of 2024 was no flash in the pan. She continues to improve and is putting herself in the frame to be at some of the better WTA tournaments.
She faces a very solid clay-court player in Elina Svitolina, but the Ukrainian has struggled with the fizzing altitude of Madrid and has never made it past the second round.
It is the thinnest window of opportunity for Kartal as they have never faced each other, but Svitolina having won the Rouen event last week, Kartal is most definitely the underdog here.
Prediction: Svitolina in straight sets.
Emma Raducanu v Marta Kostyuk [24] | H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Emma Raducanu v Marta Kostyuk [24] | H2H: Tied at 1-1 |
| WTA Madrid | Spain |
| Clay (O) | Prize Money: €30,895 |
| Fourth on Court 4, not before 3pm (2pm BST) | Sky/Now TV <- Subscription Required |
Emma Raducanu is the only one of the Brits in action today who has advanced in Madrid, reaching the round of 16 on her debut in 2022. Furthermore, her one victory over Marta Kostyuk came in that run, at the same stage, in the second round.
Kostyuk can find her way around the dirt but again seems to be hamstrung by the speed in Madrid, where she has never made it past the second round. Raducanu has already shown her on-court grit, having had to come from a break behind in both her sets against Suzan Lamens.
It feels like this could be a much tighter affair this time around – Raducanu has been bolstered by her solid run in Miami but is still finding her way this season.
Prediction: Raducanu in three sets.
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