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Wimbledon: Women’s 4th Rd Predictions

By Jake Fletcher

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(Seed)

The 4th round has been decided in the bottom half of the women’s draw. Unlike the other half, there have been several huge upsets which I predicted at the beginning of the tournament. Amongst top ten players, (2) Petra Kvitova, (3) Simona Halep, (8) Ekaterina Makarova and (10) Angelique Kerber have all failed to reach the last sixteen.

Here’s a look at the upcoming 4th round and who I think will reach the quarter finals.

(5) Caroline Wozniacki vs (20) Garbine Muguruza

Wozniacki hasn’t dropped a set in reaching the 4th round here for the fifth time in her career. However, she’s yet to win one and reach the quarters at Wimbledon. Going into this match, the Dane will no doubt take confidence from her win against (31) Camila Giorgi in the 3rd round. She handled the unpredictable power of the champion at s’Hertogenbosch and benefitted from her vast unforced errors to win 62 62.

Muguruza had scarcely won a match at Wimbledon before this year, yet now finds herself into a third successive Grand Slam 4th round. Her draw has been anything but easy, involving three set struggles against Mirjana Lucic Baroni and (10) Angelique Kerber. In the latter match, the Spaniard saved an amazing nine set points to steal the opening set en route to a 76(12) 16 62 upset of the champion at Birmingham.

Muguruza actually leads the head to head 2-1 against Wozniacki, with all three matches coming on hard courts. Wozniacki won their latest meeting in three sets at Tokyo last September. Their upcoming match should bear a strong resemblance to each players third round. Once again, Wozniacki will have to do a great deal of defending against her opponent’s powerful groundstrokes whilst Muguruza will have to find the balance between aggression and consistency. Though the match is on Muguruza’s racket, I think Wozniacki is mentally tougher than Kerber and won’t let her opportunities pass her by in the same way.

Prediction: Caroline Wozniacki

(15) Timea Bacsinszky vs Monica Niculescu

Bacsinszky continues to be the most improved player of the year, backing up her semi final run at the French Open with another good run here. The Swiss hasn’t dropped a set yet and stifled the play of grass court specialist, (18) Sabine Lisicki for a surprisingly easy 63 62 win in the 3rd round.

Niculescu has used her unorthodox style to best effect on the grass, reaching the final at Nottingham three weeks ago. Though she hasn’t encountered a seed en route to her second career Grand Slam 4th round, the Romanian has only dropped one set thus far.

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Niculescu has a commanding 4-1 lead over Bacsinszky in their head to head, though they haven’t played since 2011. Bacsinszky is a different player now, with wins over Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova to her name. The match up should be entertaining as neither player plays conventional tennis. Bacsinszky’s loopy forehand contrasts against her flat, world class backhand and Niculescu often slices her forehand or otherwise hits it double handed. For this reason, the outcome of this match is rather unpredictable, though I feel Bacsinszky’s confidence and good form should see her through.

Prediction: Timea Bacsinszky

(21) Madison Keys vs (Q) Olga Govortsova

Keys is through to the second week of a slam for a second time this year, having reached the Australian Open semis. The American’s huge serve has enabled her to win three close matches against un-seeded opposition thus far, putting her in good stead for this upcoming match.

Govortsova, ranked 122 in the world is the only qualifier to make it this far. The Belarusian was ranked as highly as 35 in 2008 but now frequents the ITF circuit and the qualifying for bigger events. Having qualified for a slam for the first time this year, Govortsova upset (25) Alize Cornet in the 2nd round en route to what is her first Grand Slam 4th round.

Keys beat Govortsova in their only previous meeting, though that was back in Miami, 2012. Keys is a huge favourite for this one, though Govortsova will be very dangerous with nothing to lose. Both players hit the ball hard and flat but Keys has the much stronger serve and should now be experienced enough to take advantage of this golden opportunity.

Prediction: Madison Keys

(13) Agnieszka Radwanska vs (28) Jelena Jankovic

Radwanska’s return to form this grass court season has been astonishing. The Eastbourne finalist hasn’t dropped a set in reaching the 4th round here for an eighth time and a fourth straight year. It’s clear that the Pole is back to her best and enjoying all that the grass has to offer.

Jankovic finds herself in the 4th round here for the first time since 2010, having lost in the 1st round in three of the past four years. The former number one very nearly did this year too, barely surviving Elena Vesnina 64 36 108. Having then struggled past Evgeniya Rodina in three sets, the Serb caused the upset of the tournament in beating the defending champion, (2) Petra Kvitova in the 3rd round. Despite Kvitova’s irrepressible early form in establishing a set and 4-2 lead, Jankovic upped her own level of aggression and took advantage of Kvitova’s lack of testing match play to eventually comeback and win 36 75 64.

Radwanska leads the head to head 5-2 over Jankovic, with all of her wins coming on hard courts. Jankovic has only ever won on clay, including the last time they played in Rome 2014. Both players have really worked on their games over the years to beef up their serves and increase their weight of shot. Though Jankovic will be on a high after her unbelievable upset, Radwanska is the far more natural and confident grass court player. Having reached the final before, Radwanska knows how to go deep at Wimbledon, unlike Jankovic who’s yet to reach the quarters.

Prediction: Agnieszka Radwanska

Next: Wimbledon: Women's 4th Round Predictions- Top Half

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