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Day 4 of the 2025 ATX Open in Austin will experience a total of seven matches, with four singles matches and three doubles encounters taking place. Players will fight to secure their spot in the last eight of the tournament.
The fourth day will commence with second seed Diana Shnaider taking on Sorana Cirstea, while crowd favorite Caroline Dolehide will be up against France’s Varvara Gracheva.
The fifth seed, McCartney Kessler, and the eighth seed Suxan Lamens will also be in action, and fans can expect high-intensity tennis throughout the day.
On that note, let’s look at the predictions for all the singles matches:
#1 Diana Shnaider vs Sorana Cirstea
Diana Shnaider is set to take on the experienced Sorana Cirstea in what promises to be a thrilling encounter. Shnaider, a young left-handed talent, has lately struggled to grab wins, but defeated Tatiana Prozorova 0-6, 6-2, 7-5 on Wednesday.
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Cirstea, on the other hand, entered Austin off of an impressive campaign at Dubai Tennis Championships, reaching the quarterfinals where she lost to 14th-seed Karolina Muchova in straight sets. However, on her way to the final eight, the Romanian defeated two of the top 20 players, Emma Navarro and Daria Kasatkina in previous rounds. At the ATX Open, Cirstea won an interesting three-setter against Laura Seigemund, with the score reading 6-3, 0-6, 6-1.
This will be the first meeting between Diana Shnaider and Sorana Cirstea on the WTA Tour. Shnaider’s energy and powerful shot-making should allow her to dictate the play and exploit Cirstea’s movement and thus hold an edge over the 34-year-old.
Predicted winner: Diana Shnaider
#2 McCartney Kessler vs Cristina Bucsa
The second singles match of the day will feature fifth seed McCartney Kessler and Spain qualifier Cristina Bucsa. Kessler cruised past a 32-year-old Swiss qualifier Viktorija Golubic in her first round and entered the tournament with a flair of confidence.
Before this, the American advanced to the third round at the Dubai Tennis Championship, before falling to Karolina Muchova. However, she delivered two impressive victories earlier, defeating World No. 3 Coco Gauff and Amanda Anisimova, who was fresh off her first WTA 1000 title at Doha.
Meanwhile, Cristina Bucsa, ranked just inside the top 100, had to go through the qualification round before breaking through the main draw. She chalked up two quick wins against Sophie Chang and Maddison Inglis. In the first round of the main draw, the Spaniard defeated home favorite Bernarda Pera in straight sets. Despite not having a major deep run in the tournament this year, Bucsa bagged one of the most important wins of her career in the Singapore Open, defeating the 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu.
This will be their first professional meeting between the two. While there are no doubts about the pedigree of Cristina Bucsa, but Kessler’s recent form and home-court advantage could prove crucial in this matchup.
Predicted winner: McCartney Kessler
#3 Suzan Lamens vs Greet Minnen
Eighth seed Suzan Lamens and Belgium’s Greet Minnen will battle it out in what should be a competitive encounter between two well-rounded players. Lamens is coming from a brilliant comeback win against Kamilla Rakhimova. After losing the first set, the Dutch won the next two to secure a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 win.
The 25-year-old is extremely busy on the tour, participating in almost every tournament. This has helped push her endurance level and made her comfortable in long rallies where she thrives.
Greet Minnen is also coming from a similar comeback win against Sijia Wei in three sets, where the Belgian was down in the first set before winning the following two sets consecutively. She has a little more WTA experience and an aggressive baseline game compared to the Dutch and usually looks to finish the points early with her forehand winners.
The two have played once against each other in 2023, when Lamens was just coming up the ranks of the ITF circuit. Minnen currently leads their head-to-head record 1-0.
This will be an interesting match from the viewpoint of contrasting styles as Lamens will look to push her opponent into long rallies with Minnen trying to finish the points early.
If the Dutch is successful in pushing her opponent into long rallies and forcing her to make unforced errors, then she is expected to go through.
Predicted winner: Suzan Lamens
#4 Caroline Dolehide vs Varvara Gracheva
Caroline Dolehide will take on Varvara Gracheva in what could be a battle of power versus consistency.vDolehide, currently ranked No. 80 in the world, will look to dominate play with her aggressive approach.
The American won her first round of ATX Open against Anastasia Zakharova in a three-set battle. She has been an effective force on hard courts and with the home backing, she could make a serious challenge against her French opponent.
Meanwhile, Varvara Gracheva, the 2023 Austin finalist, is back at the tournament after a year. The 24-year-old completely dominated third seed Peyton Stearns in the first round, emerging with a straight sets victory. The French player looks on her way to cause another upset for home fans in the second round.
While Dolehide and Gracheva have not met each other on the main draw of the WTA tour, they have faced once in the qualifier rounds of Auckland in 2023, with the French player emerging victorious.
Gracheva’s defense and counter-punching abilities can prove lethal against the superpower of Dolehide. With the history also favoring her, Grancheva holds the edge over the American.
Predicted winner: Varvara Gracheva
