WTA Doha: Semi Final Predictions

WTA Doha: Top 10 Stars Beaten!

The Top 10 fell like flies today in the quarter finals of the Qatar Total Open in Doha. I correctly predicted the demise of Caroline Wozniacki and Andrea Petkovic, but didn’t think both Petra Kvitova and Agnieszka Radwanska would go out in 3 sets! Here are my predictions of how I think the semis will go tomorrow.

(Rank/Seed)

(14/9) Carla Suarez Navarro vs (15/-) Lucie Safarova: Predicted Winner- Carla Suarez Navarro

Carla repeated the winning formula from last week, beating (4/1) Petra Kvitova 36 60 63! Despite a brilliant first set, Kvitova completely lost confidence in her game, playing passively to lose 10 straight games and trail 0-4 in the 3rd. Somehow, Kvitova recovered both breaks of serve in the decider and looked to be on her way to a miraculous turn around. However, it merely delayed the inevitable. The unforced errors and indecision returned as quickly as they had left, and it was Carla, not Kvitova as I had predicted who would ‘guts out’ the 3 setter. This was her 3rd straight win over the Czech. Later, Safarova convincingly eliminated (10/6) Andrea Petkovic 62 61, as I suspected considering how hard Andrea had had to fight to reach the quarters. Lucie is unbeaten against Carla, leading the head to head 2-0. However, they haven’t played since 2012 and both players are currently playing their career best tennis. Considering Carla has already beaten the top 2 Czechs this week, she’ll be keen to make it 3 in a row. As the games of Pliskova, Kvitova and Safarova are fundamentally similar i.e. big, flat serves and groundstrokes, I think Carla is well rehearsed for this one and I predict she will out-steady her more powerful opponent once again.

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(17/7) Venus Williams vs (48/WC) Victoria Azarenka: Predicted Winner- Victoria Azarenka

I predicted (8/4) Agnieszka Radwanska would out-steady Venus in this match, and she very nearly did. However, I should never have underestimated Venus’s fighting qualities as she pulled out a 64 16 63 win. In a match filled with breath taking rallies, where both players attacked the net frequently and chased down seeming winners, Venus made the most of her extra weight of shot to finally subdue her opponent. The match was of a higher quality than their clash in Australia but Radwanska was guilty of not converting crucial break points early in the deciding set and over using the drop shot. But who could blame her when Venus looked to be on her last legs after the second set, considering the two marathon 3 setters she’d played beforehand. Afterwards, Azarenka crushed close friend (5/3) Wozniacki 63 61, frequently coming off best in a series of lengthy baseline rallies. As she had done in their clash at the Australian Open, she dominated her opponent off the return, defended well and hit some terrific, if uncharacteristic improvised volleys. Venus is surprisingly dominate in the head to head with Azarenka, having never lost a set in their 4 previous meetings. Not bad when you think Azarenka has beaten Serena Williams 3 times! However, surely there isn’t much gas left in Venus’s tank as after all she is 34, suffers with Sjogren’s syndrome and has played three 3 setters so far. This time around, I predict Azarenka, as the fresher of the two will win as she will look to pounce on the second serve return.

Next: WTA Doha: Quarter Final Predictions

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