WTA Stuttgart: Preview & Predictions

WTA Stuttgart: Can Sharapova make it 4 in a row?

The 2015 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix gets underway this week in Stuttgart, Germany. The event is the first Premier level stop on the red clay this year and has the unique distinction of being the only INDOOR clay court event on the tour! 15 of the world’s top 20 will be competing to win the car at the end of the week, but for many it will be a tough ask as they will have to find their feet quickly on a new and challenging surface in a field jammed with talent from the get go! Here are my predictions as to who will reach the semi finals!

(Seed)

Top Half Prediction: (1) Maria Sharapova vs (3) Petra Kvitova

Sharapova remains unbeaten at this event, having won it the last 3 years! It’s still hard to believe that the clay courts have been where Maria’s had the most success over the last few years, considering she once famously compared her movement on the surface to ‘a cow on ice.’ Maria could well open her title defence against Angelique Kerber, a home favourite who defeated Maria at Wimbledon last year. Kerber is back in form having won Charleston and thrashed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova during the Fed Cup weekend. In contrast, Maria hasn’t played since her stunning 2nd round exit in Miami and had to pull out of the Fed Cup due to a leg injury! I feel that providing Maria is healthy, she should claw her way past Kerber and will then be favoured to beat either (6) Ekaterina Makarova or Jelena Jankovic in the quarters, considering her dominant head to head against both.

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Kvitova is coming into this event having just seen the Czech’s into another Fed Cup final, winning both of her singles matches against France despite missing over a month of play due to exhaustion. Though she isn’t at her best on clay, I favour her to come through a section of the draw featuring (5) Ana Ivanovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova. Ana may well lose again to Caroline Garcia in her opener, a player she’s already lost to twice this year and Kuznetsova can never be counted on!

Bottom Half Prediction: (8) Carla Suarez Navarro vs Garbine Muguruza

Carla has been one of the most consistent players this year and plays her best on clay. I envisage her beating Andrea Petkovic in the 1st round as she managed to do in the Miami semis. She will then take advantage of an early loss for (4) Caroline Wozniacki, who struggles on clay and will probably go out to Lucie Safarova in the 2nd round. Despite the fact that Lucie beat Carla earlier this year in Doha and also assisted the Czech Fed Cup team into the final over the weekend, I give Carla the edge over Lucie on clay.

Muguruza should power her way through the bottom half of the draw, accounting for (2) Simona Halep in the 2nd round. Though Simona’s in great form and is a natural on clay, she has yet to beat Garbine in 2 previous meetings and will probably struggle after a first round bye, considering Muguruza will have already won a match. If she can beat Halep, I expect Muguruza to beat her quarter final opponent, whether that be (7) Agnieszka Radwanska, Sara Errani or Sabine Lisicki.

Next: Fed Cup: Semi Final & Play Off Predictions

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