Petra Kvitova [WC] vs Kristina Mladenovic [5]
In what promises to be an exceptional battle, and potentially one of the best matches of the entire tournament, Kristina Mladenovic takes on Petra Kvitova in a simply mouthwatering match for Birmingham fans to get their teeth into in the quarterfinal line up.
Mladenovic has confidence, the fearlessness, and the attitude to take her game to an even greater level that we haven’t yet seen on a grass court in singles. We’ve seen it in the mixed doubles at Wimbledon, where she won the 2013 title, but she’s yet to make that breakthrough on this surface. The different layers and options that Mladenovic has to her game makes her a threat on all surfaces and she should put up a great challenge–the greatest challenge–to the returning Kvitova in her fifth match back from injury.
Kvitova’s dismissal of Naomi Broady in the second round was something to behold. It was a lesson of how to initiate a pure power game on a fast grass court, but also recognising the limitations of her opponent.
The head-to-head is rather interesting. All previous matches were incredibly one-sided; Kvitova leads with a 3-1 record, but Mladenovic won the match in the Paris Indoors event, where she made her first real statement on the WTA tour that week in 2013. The talking point is whether Mladenovic can show the consistency she has shown this season against one of the best tacticians on a grass court. The 2017 season illustrates that Mladenovic is ready for this, but Kvitova is starting to collect meaningful and valuable confidence on her beloved grass once again.
Prediction: Kvitova in three
Ashleigh Barty vs Camila Giorgi [Q]
The surprising match of the four quarterfinals pits Ashleigh Barty up against Camila Giorgi for a semi-final place in Birmingham. Can Barty’s variety trouble the power game of Giorgi and will the Italian blast through another opponent like she has been doing all week? Giorgi’s highs are very high but her lows are also very low, can the talented Italian reach those highs for a long enough period to get, what would be, her greatest moment on tour for quite some time – her last semi-final was at Shenzhen at the beginning of the season.
If Giorgi fires winners like she did in the first set against Top 5 player Elina Svitolina then I can see her winning tomorrow. The question is the consistency as it has always been and whether she can have a good day on serve, which is always a head-scratcher when watching Giorgi play.
Prediction: Giorgi in two
Lucie Safarova vs Daria Gavrilova [9]
The former Roland Garros finalist Safarova looked in imperious form against Naomi Osaka in her previous round and goes in as favourite in this match. Gavrilova will be buoyed by the fact she currently sits as Australian No. 1, which is a fantastic landmark in her career and she’s a player that has really got the most out of what she has. One of the unsung heroes of the WTA Tour in many ways, but tomorrow is a difficult task. Safarova is a former Wimbledon semifinalist, her lefty serve causes problems for many opponents on this surface and her net game is absolutely sublime as she has shown by winning five Grand Slam doubles titles with Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
The Czech should win this. She leads the head-to-head, feels confident after a semi-final run in Nottingham and has good grass court pedigree and should be one to look out for at Wimbledon in the coming weeks.
Prediction: Safarova in two
Garbiñe Muguruza [6] vs Coco Vandeweghe
Two confident players that have played well on this surface in years gone by. You would say that Muguruza has achieved more at the highest level as she has demonstrated with her Wimbledon final run, but I would not be surprised if Coco Vandeweghe sneaks into the second week of Wimbledon and beats a few top seeds along the way.
This is a match-up that Vandeweghe likes. She’s beaten Muguruza twice on grass at s-Hertogenbosch and at Wimbledon in 2014, but the fascinating dynamic to this match is that so much has changed since then. Muguruza is a Grand Slam winner but Vandeweghe has also improved immensely since that year.
This is the toughest to call, but I think Vandeweghe will edge this match following a impressive demolition job win over Johanna Konta in the second round.
Prediction: Vandeweghe in three
