Barbora Palicova and Samira De Stefano meet in the second round of WTA Ljubljana on Wednesday, September 16 at 08:00 UTC. Palicova is the favourite, but the expected margin looks more debatable than the winner.
Two clay runs built in different ways
Palicova arrives with the larger recent trophy after winning the W75 event in Bytom. Her 7-5 6-1 opening win over Gina Feistel in Ljubljana still took just over two hours, with an early lead becoming needlessly complicated before she restored order.
De Stefano had an untidier route through the first round, losing the opening set 6-1 to Arantxa Rus before winning the next two 6-3. That followed a title in Kursumlijska Banja without dropping a set, and her left-handed forehand naturally works into Palicova's backhand on this surface.
The extra games matter more than the ranking gap
Palicova may have enough depth and patience to edge the match, but backing her to clear a three-game margin is a stiffer request. Her serve has offered opponents regular return looks, while De Stefano has shown enough composure to stay involved after poor starts.
Their only previous meeting also went to De Stefano, in three sets on hard last November. With an outright win or a sufficiently narrow defeat both working, the cushion is preferable to taking the bigger price on the underdog.
Prediction: Samira De Stefano +2.5 games, odds 1.86
