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US Open: Women’s Quarter Final Predictions

By Jake Fletcher

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US Open: Will Azarenka send Halep hopping?

The quarter finals have been decided in the bottom half of the women’s draw at the US Open. Petra Kvitova will play Flavia Pennetta and Simona Halep will play Victoria Azarenka. Did I guess them right? Find out here!

At the beginning of the tournament, I correctly predicted that Halep and Azarenka would reach this stage.

Here’s a look at the quarter finals and who I think will reach the semis.

(Rank/Seed)

(4/5) Petra Kvitova vs (26/26) Flavia Pennetta

Kvitova extended her winning streak to eight straight matches, coming in off of the New Haven title to reach her first US Open quarter final. In the 4th round, the Czech ended the inspired run and sixteen match winning streak of the qualifier, Johanna Konta 75 63. Though the 25 year old had lost both of her two previous 4th rounds here and played second fiddle for most of the first set, an untimely double fault down set point put pay to Konta’s hopes of progress. This marks the first time since the French Open in 2012 that Kvitova has reached a Grand Slam quarter final outside of Wimbledon.

Pennetta is one of the most consistent players in recent US Open history, this being her sixth quarter final appearance in her last seven attempts. However, the Italian is a miserable 1-4 in those contested thus far. In the 4th round, the 33 year old extended her perfect record against (22/22) Samantha Stosur to 7-0, ousting the 2011 champion 64 64.

Kvitova and Pennetta are tied at 3-3 in their head to head, Kvitova winning their last three meetings. Their latest came on the grass at Wimbledon in 2012 for the Olympics, when Kvitova won 63 60. Pennetta hasn’t beaten Kvitova since the Fed Cup in 2010, long before Kvitova had even cracked the top 10!

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This match is hard to predict as Kvitova has never gone this deep at the US Open before. Pennetta is comparatively a veteran at this stage of the US Open and is so good at absorbing and redirecting pace. Given her past record here and strong return of serve, I give Pennetta a slight edge unless Kvitova hits a purple patch.

Prediction: Flavia Pennetta

(2/2) Simona Halep vs (20/20) Victoria Azarenka

Halep was pushed for the first time this event in the 4th round, scarcely surviving (24/24) Sabine Lisicki 67(6) 75 62. In a physically demanding battle, the Romanian allowed leads to slip in both sets and struggled with a leg injury in the closing stages. However, her greater consistency was too much for her cramping opponent as the 23 year old  benefitted from Lisicki’s extraordinary 72 unforced errors to finally reach the quarter finals in New York.

Azarenka looked sharp in beating Varvara Lepchenko 63 64 to reach her fourth successive quarter final here. Adorned in strange strapping on either arm to prevent blisters, Azarenka bossed the middle of the court and will feel confident that she can progress further, as she did in 2012 and 2013.

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Azarenka leads Halep 2-0 in their head to head, but the pair haven’t met since Linz in 2012 when Azarenka was world number one and Halep hadn’t even cracked the top 20! Therefore, their head to head is practically redundant.

Halep must look to play more aggressively than she did against Lisicki if she’s to beat Azarenka. She can’t hope to chase down balls several feet behind the baseline and wait for Azarenka to miss as Lisicki did. Azarenka will be stepping up the court to punish any short serve or groundstroke and for me, has both the mental and physical (there’s something I never thought I’d say) edge coming into this match.

Prediction: Victoria Azarenka

Next: US Open: Women's Quarter Final Predictions- Top Half

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