WTA Indian Wells: Top Half QF Predictions

WTA Indian Wells: S. Williams vs Bacsinszky & Halep vs Suarez Navarro

The quarter finals of the top half of the Indian Wells draw will be completed today. At the beginning of the week, I correctly predicted that Williams and Halep would reach the quarters. Here are my predictions about what will happen today.

(Rank/Seed)

(1/1) Serena Williams vs (26/27) Timea Bacsinszky

Serena Williams had a tough fight in the 4th round, relying on big serving to recover from a set behind and beat (42/-) Sloane Stephens 67(3) 62 62. Timea Bacsinszky has come from a set behind in all 3 matches she’s contested so far, recovering from a 0-3 double break down in the third set to beat (9/8) Ekaterina Makarova 36 75 64 in the 3rd round and then beat (29/23) Elina Svitolina 46 61 61 in the 4th round. Timea is now on a 15 match winning streak, including title wins at her last 2 events in Acapulco and Monterrey! Serena beat Timea in their only previous meeting in straight sets, back in Rome 2010. Though Timea is evidently a better player than the one back then, I can’t envisage her upsetting the number one. I think her winning streak will come to an end today! Prediction: Serena Williams

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(3/3) Simona Halep vs (13/12) Carla Suarez Navarro

Simona Halep seems to have shrugged off the rust from earlier rounds, subduing the dangerous (15/14) Karolina Pliskova rather comfortably in the end, 64 64 in the 4th round. In contrast, Carla has laboured through her last 2 matches in 3 sets, struggling through an ankle injury and a tenacious (43/-) Heather Watson 76(5) 36 61 in the 4th round. Both players have been exceptionally consistent this year to date and the head to head is neatly tied at 4-4. However, Simona has won their last 2 meetings (though they haven’t played since 2013) and their last 3 hard court encounters. This match will feature plenty of lengthy, topspin rallies, where endurance will be a deciding factor. If Halep can keep her unforced error count down whilst still playing the role of aggressor, she should win. Prediction: Simona Halep

Next: Wozniacki and Ivanovic Out

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