WTA Eastbourne: Semi Final Predictions

WTA Eastbourne: Will Bencic Break Down Wozniacki?

The semi finals at the AEGON International have been decided. At the beginning of the week, I didn’t think any one of these players would get this far. Three of my picks; Lucie Safarova, Ekaterina Makarova and Carla Suarez Navarro lost in their opening matches, whilst Angelique Kerber withdrew prior to the tournament.

Here are my predictions (fingers crossed they’re better this time) as to who will reach the final.

(Rank/Seed)

(13/9) Agnieszka Radwanska vs (43/-) Sloane Stephens

Despite falling out of the top ten earlier this year, Radwanska has regained her form during the grass court season. As a former champion here and Wimbledon finalist, it’s no surprise that two of the three semis she’s reached all year have come on this surface. Thus far, the Pole has dropped only nine games in reaching the semis, accounting for last week’s Birmingham finalist, (11/8) Karolina Pliskova and former Wimbledon semi finalist, Tsvetana Pironkova.

Stephens seems happier now that she’s back with old coach Nick Saviano. Having pushed Serena Williams to three sets in the fourth round of Paris, the American took a three week break which seems to have paid off. She lost only six games against (9/5) Carla Suarez Navarro in her opening match; only the third pre-quarter final defeat in the Spaniard’s past fourteen tournaments. After beating Heather Watson, she received a walkover into the semis after Daria Gavrilova withdrew due to an abdominal strain.

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Radwanska remains unbeaten against Stephens at 3-0, though the pair haven’t played since 2013 and never on grass. In those matches, it was clear that Stephens could harm Radwanska as their first two meetings went to three sets. However, Radwanska looked sublime in her quarter final, serving arguably the best she’s ever done. Though Stephens possesses a greater weight of shot, I’m not sure she will be able to hit through her opponent whilst keeping the unforced errors down.

Prediction: Agnieszka Radwanska

(5/2) Caroline Wozniacki vs (31/-) Belinda Bencic

Wozniacki is slowly but surely finding her feet on this surface, this being the third straight year that she’s reached the semi finals here. Despite having won here before, the Dane has been less than convincing in her first three matches. Her opener was unsurprisingly tough against Jarmila Gajdosova as she recovered from a break down in the first set to win 76(4) 62. In her next match, she inexplicably allowed a 5-1 first set lead to dissipate before eventually overwhelming former champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova 67(3) 63 61. Her quarter final was also very tricky as she struggled to hold serve initially against (14/11) Andrea Petkovic before taking control to win 75 61.

Bencic already had plenty of grass court matches before this week, having made the final at Rosmalen a week and a half ago. This put the Swiss in good stead to avenge her recent French Open loss to the reigning champion here, (21/12) Madison Keys, who she routed 62 62. After (12/7) Eugenie Bouchard was forced to retire with an abdominal injury mid match in the third round, Bencic was forced to battle from behind against Johanna Konta. In the end, Bencic silenced the crowd with her 26 60 63 triumph to see her avenge a defeat here last year against the Brit.

The two are tied at 1-1 in their head to head, both having won in straight sets on hard courts in the last year. Bencic won their last match at Indian Wells 64 64, which was amazing when you consider she had lost their clash in Istanbul last summer 60 60. That proves that Bencic has vastly improved in the past year. The eighteen year old will be feeling confident ahead of this one, after all she has Martina Hingis on her side for expert tactical coaching. Wozniacki hasn’t played well this week and can’t afford to get off to another poor start as Bencic is playing too well to let her get away with it. Considering this tournament has a habit of throwing up surprises, I’m going to go out on a limb.

Prediction: Belinda Bencic

Next: Wimbledon 2015- Can Anyone Stop Serena Williams

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