Wednesday at Cincy, 2nd Round Predictions: Stosur-Hampton, Isner-Gasquet and more

1. Sam Stosur v Jamie Hampton

Sam Stosur

The match top on my viewing priority and that ticks the box for all court tennis will be the second rounder between Sam Stosur and Jamie Hampton.  Stosur had a solid first round win over a struggling, Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-1 7-5.  There was a lot of effort and noise from Kuznetsova, but she still appears to be shaking off the rust from the abdominal injury that sidelined her through Wimbledon.  Hampton came through a lengthy battle with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, eventually securing a 7-5 4-6 6-3 victory in 2 hours and 42 minutes.  Stosur beat Hampton twice last year and both were comfortable wins, but Jamie has really come on leaps and bounds this year.  I think Sam will win, but this should be a good match.

Prediction - Stosur to beat Hampton in 2 very tight sets

2. John Isner v Richard Gasquet

This is not necessarily the match I would hunt out on the schedule in terms of it's potential for high quality, but I think it should be intriguing to see who comes out with the W.  Richard Gasquet goes in as the seed, but the Frenchman has struggled to reach his best form since a heartbreaking loss to Stanislas Wawrinka in the 4th round of Roland Garros where he went down in a gutsy display, 8-6 in the decider.  John Isner's season has been nothing special, but the American has managed to discover his best form of 2013 in the last month with a title in Atlanta and a final in Washington.  Gasquet leads the head-to-head 2-1 including a straight sets win last year in Toronto.  I have a feeling though Isner is in good form as he strolled past Florian Mayer in the first round (no tiebreaks!) so I am definitely going for the big man to progress against Gasquet.

Prediction - Isner to beat Gasquet in 2 tight sets

3. Andrea Petkovic v Roberta Vinci

There are plenty of quality match-ups in the womens draw for Wednesday's play, but I think this one is a good bet for an upset.  Plus, I always like writing about Andrea Petkovic, who is a breath of fresh air on the tour.  I was just listening to the No Challenges Remaining podcast by tennis writers, Courtney Nguyen and Ben Rothenberg (well worth a listen if you have never heard it) and they always compliment how she gives so much in interviews and generally, is just a top person.  She had a great first round win as she rebounded from losing the first set to Daniela Hantuchova to stride home with a 2-6 6-4 6-1 win.  No doubt, her second round opponent, Roberta Vinci, who beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands in three sets on Monday, will have plenty of tricks up her sleeve.  I really like both players, but I am backing Petko, who has beaten Vinci before, to dig out a huge win.

Prediction - Petkovic to beat Vinci in 3 sets

Best of the rest: WTA 2nd Round Predictions

Serena Williams to beat Eugenie Bouchard in 2 sets

Maria Kirilenko to beat Mona Barthel in 3 sets *great chance for Mona, but not brave enough*

Marion Bartoli to beat Simona Halep in 3 sets

Agnieszka Radwanska to beat Varvara Lepchenko in 2 tight sets

Elena Vesnina to beat Venus Williams in 3 sets

Angelique Kerber to beat Alisa Kleybanova in 2 sets

Li Na to beat Lauren Davis in 2 sets

Sara Errani to beat Polona Hercog in 2 sets

Jelena Jankovic to beat Ekaterina Makarova in 3 sets

Petra Kvitova to beat Marina Erakovic in 2 sets

Caroline Wozniacki to beat Monica Niculescu in 2 sets

Alize Cornet to beat Magdalena Rybarikova in 3 sets

Best of the rest: ATP 2nd Round Predictions

Novak Djokovic to beat Juan Monaco in 2 sets

Vasek Pospisil to beat David Goffin in 3 sets

Milos Raonic to beat Janko Tipsarevic in 3 sets

James Blake to beat Dmitry Tursunov in 3 sets

Jeremy Chardy to beat Feliciano Lopez in 2 tight sets

Juan Martin del Potro to beat Nikolay Davydenko in 2 tight sets

Tommy Haas to beat Marcel Granollers in 2 tight sets

Rafael Nadal to beat Benjamin Becker in 2 sets

Tomas Berdych to beat Jarrko Nieminen in 2 sets

Stanislas Wawrinka to beat Tommy Robredo in 2 tight sets

Andy Murray to beat Mikhail Youzhny in 2 very tight sets