WTA Curitiba Preview, October 28: Clay Grinders, One-Handed Backhands and Pre-Match Drama

October 28 brings the second round to the inaugural clay event in Curitiba, where quarterfinal tickets are on the line and the medical room is already working overtime. Between 16-year-old Nauhany Vitoria Leme Da Silva playing through pre-match illness and veteran Gabriela Ce fighting off October leg-heaviness, the physical drama is outpacing the drop shots.

Add in Solana Sierra returning from a recent injury withdrawal and Leyre Romero Gormaz arriving red-hot from a European final, and the draw is wide open for chaos. Here are the five second-round clashes I have my eye on today:

14:30 — Lourdes Ayala — Jazmin Ortenzi
14:30 — Alice Tubello — Luna Maria Cinalli
16:00 — Leyre Romero Gormaz — Antonia Vergara Rivera
17:30 — Gabriela Ce — Solana Sierra
20:00 — Nauhany Vitoria Leme Da Silva — Luisina Giovannini

Times are UTC.

Lourdes Ayala — Jazmin Ortenzi

An all-Argentine battle guarantees a compatriot in the quarterfinals, and the oddsmakers have essentially handed the trophy to Jazmin Ortenzi already by pricing her at a comical 1.003. Ortenzi, ranked 173rd, loves the South American dirt—she owns a 66% win rate on clay this year (23–12) and recently told Radio La Rioja that "we spend the whole year travelling abroad," making these regional stops emotionally huge for her.

Ortenzi had to shake off a tight opening set against Victoria Bosio before cruising 7-5, 6-2, whereas 20-year-old Lourdes Ayala has been living in the trenches all week. Unranked Ayala came through qualifying and edged Luiza Fullana 6-4, 7-6(6) in a balanced, nervy baseline battle, proving she has the lungs to grind even if her 15–14 clay record in 2026 screams mortal.

With only a straight-up moneyline on the board and Ortenzi sitting at 1.003, the numbers are too skewed for a play, though I expect Ortenzi's superior clay pedigree to wrap this up in two sets once Ayala's qualifying mileage catches up to her.

Alice Tubello — Luna Maria Cinalli

Eighteen-year-old Argentine Luna Maria Cinalli is the romantic story of the week after coming through qualifying and beating Ana Candiotto 6-2, 6-3 for her first main-draw win at this level. She brings a rare, aesthetically pleasing one-handed backhand that she developed just by messing around in practice, though a 21–19 clay record in 2026 shows the stroke is still learning to pay the bills.

Frenchwoman Alice Tubello is here to ruin the fairy tale, and she just handed world No. 116 Laura Samson a 6-0, 6-4 beatdown in the first round. Ranked 207th, the 25-year-old Tubello is a certified dirt-baller with a 70% clay win rate this season (40–17) and a massive scheduling edge, having rested on Tuesday while Cinalli was out grinding against Candiotto.

I think Tubello's heavy, repetitive patterns will ruthlessly target that teenage one-hander, making under 19.5 games at 1.58 and the -6 game handicap at 1.732 look very realistic in a quick French victory.

Leyre Romero Gormaz — Antonia Vergara Rivera

Spain's Leyre Romero Gormaz arrived in Brazil straight from the Lisbon final, where she blew past Fiona Ferro (6-2, 6-2) and Dalma Galfi (6-2, 6-3) before falling to Clara Burel. The 24-year-old lefty, ranked 131st, did not even blink in the intercontinental transition, dismantling Julia Konishi Camargo Silva 6-2, 6-1 in her Curitiba opener to push her 2026 clay mark to 33–20.

Across the net is 19-year-old Chilean Antonia Vergara Rivera, ranked 451st, who snapped a four-match losing streak by beating Eduarda Gomes 6-3, 6-4 on Monday. Vergara Rivera is riding high after receiving a wild card into her upcoming home WTA 125 event, noting to G5 Noticias that "having a WTA-category tournament in Chile is hugely important," though good vibes alone rarely stop a top-150 lefty in peak rhythm.

To my eye, Romero Gormaz is playing at a different speed right now, and even with a mammoth line, her -7.5 handicap at 2.06 or the under 17.5 games at 1.727 should hold in a routine rout.

Gabriela Ce — Solana Sierra

At 33, Brazilian lefty Gabriela Ce knows every trick in the clay-court book, even when her own legs refuse to cooperate. Ranked 346th, Ce fell behind early against Fernanda Labrana before reeling off a 6-4, 6-0 win, admitting to TenisBrasil that she felt heavy from the long season before finding her spark: "I finished very well."

She will need that exact second-set energy from the first ball against world No. 101 Solana Sierra, a 22-year-old Argentine who boasts 16 career titles and brushed aside Justina Maria Gonzalez Daniele 6-3, 6-1 on Tuesday. The catch with Sierra is her health—she pulled out of her Mallorca title defense earlier this month with an injury, and while she looked sharp in her opener, Ce has an extra day of rest and the home crowd in her corner.

This matchup is far murkier than Sierra's 1.37 price tag suggests, as everything hinges on whether Sierra's body holds up in long baseline exchanges and if Ce can avoid another sluggish start; I expect a scrappy affair where Ce's +4.5 handicap at 1.772 has plenty of life.

Nauhany Vitoria Leme Da Silva — Luisina Giovannini

Sixteen-year-old Brazilian phenom Nauhany Vitoria Leme Da Silva—known locally as Naná—put on a masterclass in teenage chaos to beat world No. 203 Despina Papamichail 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 on Monday. Ranked 660th, Naná confessed to TenisBrasil afterward that "before the match, I had felt unwell," which explains why she completely lost her intensity against Papamichail's drop shots in the middle set before roaring back.

Standing in her way is 19-year-old Argentine Luisina Giovannini, ranked 199th, who survived her own rollercoaster opener by upsetting No. 132 Lucia Bronzetti 7-6(6), 1-6, 6-2 and owns a blistering 79% win rate on clay this year (37–10). Yet here is the delicious twist: Naná actually leads their head-to-head 1–0 after beating Giovannini 7-6(4), 6-4 on clay in April at the Billie Jean King Cup, proving the teenager's heavy first strike can rush the Argentine grinder.

The bookmakers have Giovannini at 1.28, completely ignoring that April meeting; assuming a day off cured Naná's stomach bug, I expect another tight three-setter where over 19.5 games at 1.782 and Naná's +5 handicap at 1.763 are very much in play.

Brazilian Grit, Argentine Clay Pedigree and a Teenage Rematch

The overarching question on Wednesday in Curitiba is whether home-crowd adrenaline can patch up the physical question marks on the Brazilian side of the draw. If Naná Silva has recovered from her Monday illness to repeat her Billie Jean King Cup heroics against Giovannini, and if Gabriela Ce can test Solana Sierra's recently healed body early, the evening sessions could turn into full-blown carnival upsets.

While I have laid out how the styles and storylines clash across these five courts, the AI cappers have their own sharp numbers and concrete picks waiting on the individual match pages.