WTA Birmingham: Semi Final Predictions

WTA Birmingham: Semi Final Predictions- Karolina Pliskova vs Kristina Mladenovic & Angelique Kerber vs Sabine Lisicki

The semi finals of the AEGON Classic will be played tomorrow. At the beginning of the week, I correctly predicted that Angelique Kerber would make it this far. Another of my predictions, Victoria Azarenka was forced to withdraw prior to the second round due to a foot injury.

Here are my predictions as to who will reach the final.

(Rank/Seed)

(12/6) Karolina Pliskova vs (43/-) Kristina Mladenovic

Pliskova has improved dramatically as the tournament has progressed. After being forced to three sets in her opening match, she won her next two 62 62. In the quarters, she bullied (9/3) Carla Suarez Navarro into submission, levelling up their head to head this year at 2-2. Despite the defeat, Carla continued her incredibly consistent record in reaching her eleventh quarter final of the year.

Mladenovic came into this event already accustomed to the grass, having reached the quarter finals in Rosmalen last week. Here, she’s beaten the likes of (11/5) Eugenie Bouchard in the second round and (3/1) Simona Halep in the quarters. In the latter, she combined nerveless attack with deft drop shots to eventually dictate the match on her terms and edge it 26 60 76(4).

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Mladenovic won their only previous meeting on an indoor hard court in Moscow last October, 63 75. Unlike in their quarter final matches, both players will be fighting each other to try and dictate. As both women have imposing serves and groundstrokes, the rallies should be short and sweet. Though Mladenovic will be on a high having beaten Halep, I feel that Pliskova’s game is in tidier shape and she has gathered significant momentum this week.

Prediction: Karolina Pliskova

(10/4) Angelique Kerber vs (19/8) Sabine Lisicki

As I predicted, Kerber has experienced little trouble in reaching the semis here. Though her first match on grass was an expectedly difficult three setter against Tsvetana Pironkova, Kerber has since hit her stride. (29/15) Jelena Jankovic and Katerina Siniakova proved too erratic and only managed to win six games each as they were out-steadied.

Lisicki, the former champion of 2011, is also happy to be back on the grass. During her second round match, Lisicki broke yet another WTA serving record in hitting an incredible 27 aces past last week’s Rosmalen finalist, Belinda Bencic. Both Magdalena Rybarikova and Daniela Hantuchova, as former champions themselves, forced the crowd favourite to a first set tiebreak, only to lose it and then the match in straight sets.

Kerber dominates the head to head 5-0, though both grass court meetings were decided in three sets. The two haven’t met since the last of these in the Wimbledon quarters 2012, when Kerber edged it 63 67(7) 75. Kerber will look to absorb her German compatriots greater power and use it against her. She must return well and not be too content to sit back and defend. In contrast, Lisicki must be careful not to over play and go for anything too extravagant. If she wants to get her first win over Kerber, it’s imperative that she puts plenty of first serves in without compromising its speed. It could be a struggle.

Prediction: Angelique Kerber

Next: WTA Birmingham: Preview & Predictions

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