WTA Indian Wells: Bottom Half QF Prediction

WTA Indian Wells: Tsurenko vs Jankovic & Lisicki vs Pennetta

The quarter finals of the bottom half of the Indian Wells draw will be completed today. At the beginning of the week, I failed to predict ANY of the quarter finalists correctly! Can you blame me? Here are my predictions as to what will happen today and fingers crossed, I’ll have more success this time!

(Rank/Seed)

(85/Q) Lesia Tsurenko vs (21/18) Jelena Jankovic

Tsurenko, of the Ukraine has had a sensational run through this event, winning 2 matches in qualifying before putting together a string of upsets in the main draw. This involved beating (10/9) Andrea Petkovic 63 46 64 and (24/20) Alize Cornet 75 16 62 in the 2nd and 3rd rounds respectively. Then, most impressively, she recovered from 1-4 down in the 3rd set to beat an ever erratic (7/6) Eugenie Bouchard 67(5) 75 64 in the 4th round. In a match riddled with breaks, it was no surprise that the Canadian failed to serve out the match in the 2nd set! Jankovic has been no stranger to the 3 setter either, as it’s taken her 3 sets to beat all 3 of her opponents thus far. At best, she recovered from 1-3 third set deficits to beat 2 of the brightest prospects in the women’s game; (18/16) Madison Keys 57 64 63 and (37/31) Belinda Bencic 63 36 63. Lesia and Jelena have never played before and you’d have to expect that Lesia will be tired after winning 6 tough matches just to get here. Jankovic, the champion here in 2010, is more experienced and should win the longer rallies. As I don’t think Tsurenko will be able to out-steady Jankovic, I think Jankovic should edge it, even if it takes 3 sets. Prediction: Jelena Jankovic

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(30/24) Sabine Lisicki vs (16/15) Flavia Pennetta

Did you know that Sabine Lisicki could win matches outside of Wimbledon? Coming into this event, she’d lost 6 of the 7 matches she’d contested this year! Suddenly, in one of the games biggest events, she’s put together 3 straight match wins at a tournament in which she’d never won a match before! The mind boggles! Still, Sabine’s run has been impressive, seeing her beat the likes of (12/11) Sara Errani 64 62 and in-form conqueror of Ana Ivanovic, (28/25) Caroline Garcia 64 64 in the 4th round. As reigning champion, Flavia Pennetta is carrying a unique pressure on her shoulders, a pressure which threatened to topple her in the 4th round when she was seen crying on the court. However, her tennis has been something else this week, as she remains unbeaten against (25/21) Sam Stosur in beating her 64 62 in the 3rd round. Then came the huge upset, a comeback 36 63 62 win over two time former champion, (2/2) Maria Sharapova in the 4th round. Despite the emotional start, Pennetta forced Sharapova into playing her steady baseline game, gradually chipping away at the Russian’s confidence both off the ground and on the serve. It was Flavia’s third straight win over Maria stretching back to 2009, all 3 wins coming in 3 sets on American hard courts! Sabine and Flavia have surprisingly never met, considering they’ve both been on the tour for so long. After handling the power of Stosur’s serve and Maria’s groundstrokes, I’m sure Pennetta will be in fine shape to handle Lisicki, who is hit and miss at best. Prediction: Flavia Pennetta

Next: WTA Indian Wells: Top Half QF Predictions

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