2016 Australian Open- Carla Suarez Navarro vs Daria Gavrilova

Daria Gavrilova looks to be the first Australian women in seven years to make the quarter-finals in Melbourne as she faces 10th seed Carla Suarez Navarro in an interesting fourth round clash. This match is set to take place on the Rod Laver Arena at 19:00 Melbourne Time (08:00 UK Time) and the winner will face 4th seed Agnieszka Radwanska or Anna-Lena Friedsam in the quarter-finals.

Neither of the two have a particularly easy road to get to this stage. Suarez Navarro started against qualifier Viktorija Golubic, who she edged in a tight 7-5 6-4 match. Things were also tough in the second round as she had to come from a set down to beat Maria Sakkari 6-7 6-2 6-2. However there was some disappointment in her third round clash as she was leading 6-4 2-0 when Elizaveta Kulichkova unfortunately retired; the Spaniard is playing solid tennis, but will probably need to improve. Gavrilova started with a tough 7-6 6-4 win over Lucie Hradecka, though then caused a slight upset as she beat 6th seed h Petra Kvitova 6-4 6-4. Her third round match was extremely tight, edging 28th seed Kristina Mladenovic 6-4 4-6 11-9; she has played good tennis so far, though may be worn out after a lengthy match on Friday.

One advantage that home favourite Gavrilova has is that she is slightly more powerful and is certainly more aggressive; if she is playing well, she has a good chance of making her first grand slam quarter-final. However the Australian can be error-prone and can also get wound up easily; Suarez Navarro is much more calm and that could well be a factor. The Spaniard will need to defend well and should attack at every opportunity she gets, especially on her strong backhand, though she also must serve well and not let Gavrilova dictate too many rallies.

Suarez Navarro leads the head to head 1-0 after a straight sets win back in 2014; considering Gavrilova’s improvement since then, that will probably have very little impact on this match. The Spaniard hasn’t played amazing tennis so far and because of that I think that Gavrilova, who will be full of confidence, will cause another slight upset here.

Prediction: Gavrilova in 3

 

2015 Wuhan Open- Day 3 Predictions

Action continues at the Wuhan, with some of the big names in action for the first time. Here are three of my picks for the action today!

Angelique Kerber vs Jelena Jankovic

Two of the best defenders on the tour face off as 6th seed Angelique Kerber takes on Jelena Jankovic in the first match on Centre Court. The odds are stacked against Jankovic to some extent; she has already had to play a match here (a tight win over Heather Watson), has had a tough turn around from winning the title in Guangzhou and has only beaten Kerber once in four previous meetings. Kerber has also been in great form the past few months, and will be well-rested after a quarter-final loss in Tokyo. Jankovic will be confident after stringing a few matches together but she may be worn out and the stronger form of Kerber should see the German take the win.

Prediction: Kerber in 2

Anna Karolina Schmiedlova vs Caroline Wozniacki

4th seed Caroline Wozniacki is second up on Centre Court, and will most likely have a difficult match against the talented youngster Anna Karolina Schmiedlova. It hasn’t been the best year for Wozniacki though she played some good tennis in Tokyo, reaching the semi-finals, and she will be confident heading in to Wuhan. Schmiedlova certainly has the weapons to trouble Wozniacki and also reached the semi-finals of a tournament last week, in Seoul, but has already had to play a match here (Completing a 6-4 6-4 win over Mariana Duque Marino) and may be a bit tired coming into this match. It promises to be tight, but I think the rest and confidence Wozniacki has got will help her here.

Prediction:Wozniacki in 3

Petra Kvitova vs Daria Gavrilova

It is potentially not the easiest opener for defending champion and 3rd seed Petra Kvitova against Daria Gavrilova. It was a difficult summer for Kvitova following her diagnosis with Mono, but she won New Haven and the reached the quarter-finals of the US Open for the first time, losing to eventual champion Flavia Pennetta- Kvitova seems to be in good form at the moment. It’s been the best season ever for Daria Gavrilova, recording wins over Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic, though she has gone off the boil a bit as of late. She started with a relatively comfortable win over Teliana Pereira, which shouldn’t have taken much out of her, though she doesn’t have the weapons to take on an in-form Kvitova. If the two-time Wimbledon champion is near her best, she shouldn’t have much trouble.

Kvitova in 2

Also in action

Top seed Simona Halep could have a difficult opener against the erratic Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, whilst Ana Ivanovic plays Madison Brengle and Carla Suarez Navarro begins her campaign against Monica Nicelescu. There is an interesting match between Sloane Stephens and Garbine Muguruza, whilst other names in action include Roberta Vinci and Elina Svitolina.

2015 Connecticut Open- Monday Predictions

Following a few main draw matches on Sunday, more action continues on Monday as the opening round of the 2015 Connecticut Open continues. It should be an exciting day, with many intriguing matches taking place. Here are three of my predictions!

Madison Keys vs Elina Svitolina

Two rising stars face off in an extremely interesting match second on Stadium court, as Madison Keys faces Elina Svitolina for the chance to play Petra Kvitova. Svitolina has had the better summer hard court season, reaching the semi-finals in Stanford and Cincinnati, and also reached the quarter-finals of the French Open earlier this year as well as winning a title in Marrakech. Whilst Keys hasn’t won a title this year, she did reach the final in Charleston and was a semi-finalist at the Australian Open and a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon. Keys could potentially beat anyone with her serve and her big game when playing well, but is too inconsistent and hasn’t been in great form recently. Svitolina has certainly been more consistent and has had the better year on the whole, and it looks as if she should edge her first meeting against fellow 20 year old Keys.

Prediction: Svitolina in 3

Lucie Safarova vs Daria Gavrilova

4th seed Lucie Safarova has an extremely difficult match in the opening round, who won their meeting in Toronto two weeks ago. Safarova hasn’t been in great form since her run to the French Open final and will be looking to pick up a few match wins before the final major of the year, though she did win the title in Doha and will be able to challenge anyone if she starts playing her best again. Gavrilova has risen well up the rankings this year, with highlights including the semi-finals in Rome and a win over Maria Sharapova in Miami, Gavrilova won her match against Safarova in Toronto 4-6 7-5 7-5, and hopefully the crowd will get a similar battle today. Based on current form it seems that Gavrilova will come through, though Safarova will make her work for it.

Prediction: Gavrilova in 3

Agnieszka Radwanska vs Coco Vandeweghe

Another interesting match opens the night session in New Haven, as 7th seed Agnieszka Radwanska faces talented American Coco Vandeweghe. Radwanska has had a poor year and has fallen down to 15th in the world, with one her issues seemingly being that she hasn’t been able to control her opponents power as much as she used to. This could be a problem today, as Vandeweghe is extremely powerful. The American reached her first grand slam quarter-final at Wimbledon, though is very erratic and Radwanska could force Vandeweghe into making several errors. Radwanska certainly has more experience than Vandeweghe and did win their only previous meeting, in Beijing last year, in straight sets. She should come through this one, though Vandeweghe could make it tight for the 7th seed.

Prediction: Radwanska in 3

Also in action

Eugenie Bouchard kicks off Stadium action against Roberta Vinci, whilst Sara Errani kicks off action on Grandstand against Kiki Mladenovic. 6th seed Timea Bacsinszky faces good friend Caroline Garcia, whilst their could be a feisty affair between Alize Cornet and Yulia Putintseva. Karolina Pliskova takes on Polona Hercog, whilst Magdalena Rybarikova faces Flavia Pennetta and Olga Savchuk takes on Olga Govortsova.

2015 Bank of the West Classic- Day 2 Picks

More seeds are in action in Stanford today as the first tournament for the women in the US Open Series continues in California. Here are three of my picks for today!

Angelique Kerber vs Daria Gavrilova

Last years finalist and 5th seed Angelique Kerber has a difficult opening match against the talented Daria Gavrilova. After a poor start to the season, where she had a win loss record of 8-9, Kerber’s form has improved and she has picked up titles in Charleston, Stuttgart and Birmingham. However she has disappointed at the slams, and will be looking for wins going into the US Open later this month. 21 year old Gavrilova has had the best year of her career with highlights including a victory over Maria Sharapova in Miami and a semi-final appearance in Rome. She certainly has the talent to push, and potentially beat, the world number 14 later today.

Prediction: Kerber in 3

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni vs Vavara Lepchenko

There is a lot at stake in the first match on Stadium Court, as the winner of this match will face top seed Caroline Wozniacki in the 2nd round. Lucic-Baroni is 11 places high in the rankings, but Lepchenko leads the head to head 3-2. As we’ve seen, Lucic-Baroni can beat anyone when she is at her best (Having beaten Simona Halep twice in slams in the past 12 months) but she can be erratic and Lepchenko was a semi-finalist last year- It promises to be a close battle!

Prediction: Lepchenko in 3

Sabine Lisicki vs Kimiko Date Krumm

It is incredible that, at the age of 44, Kimiko Date Krumm is still playing and actually qualified for this tournament, beating Naomi Osaka and Gabriela Dabrowski- both of whom are more than twenty years younger than her. However it would seem her impressive run will come to the end against Sabine Lisicki. The former Wimbledon finalist disappointed at SW19, losing in the third round to Timea Bacsinszky, but had a good run on the US hard courts earlier this year, reaching the semi-finals at Indian Wells and quarter-finals in Miami. It will be interesting to see how she does on the hard courts this summer.

Prediction: Lisicki in 2

Also in action

There is an all Ukranian battle on Stadium Court as Elina Svitolina faces Kateryna Bondarenko, whilst Vitalia Diatchenko faces Ajla Tomljanovic and Ana Konjuh faces Saisai Zheng.