It is fast approaching the business end of the tournament at the WTA Dubai, with just four players left in contention for the crown. That no longer includes the world’s top two players, with Naomi Osaka and Simona Halep having lost in the second round and quarterfinals respectively. But all four semifinalists have shown their quality this week and a thrilling day of tennis looks to be in store. But who will book their place in the final?
Petra Kvitova vs Su-Wei Hseih (second on Centre Court)
World #3 and Australian Open runner-up Petra Kvitova will hope to reach her third final of 2019 when she takes on Su-Wei Hseih, in what will be the fourth meeting between the pair. Kvitova will surely take great confidence from the fact that she won all of the previous three, without dropping a set, including earlier this year in Sydney. But Hseih comes into this clash in fine form, having beaten fifth seed Angelique Kerber in the third round before accounting for fourth seed Karolina Pliskova in the quarterfinals, 6-4 1-6 7-5.
Kvitova has played some fine tennis herself, and will surely have been particularly pleased with the manner of her 6-4 6-0 victory over Viktoria Kuzmova in the quarterfinals. Her forehand was firing throughout that match and she will be hoping for more of the same against the unorthodox Hseih. Hseih’s impressive variety makes her hard to pin down, even for a player with the power of Kvitova. Nonetheless, expect the Czech to find a way to hit through Hseih and reach the WTA Dubai final, even if it does not prove simple.
Kvitova in two
Elina Svitolina vs Belinda Bencic (third on Centre Court)
2017 WTA Dubai champion Elina Svitolina will hope to take another step towards reclaiming the trophy when she takes on Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic. It will be just the second meeting between the pair. Bencic won their last clash, edging out the Ukrainian 6-7 6-4 6-1 in Charleston five years ago, but Svitolina’s game has improved considerably since then. Indeed, she has looked to be playing something approaching her best tennis so far this week and didn’t drop a set in scoring victories over Ons Jabeur, Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro.
But Bencic too has impressed. In the round of 16, she saved six match points in a 6-4 2-6 7-6 win over Aryna Sabalenka. She then rallied from a set down to beat world #2 Simona Halep, who last week reached the final in Qatar, in the quarterfinals. Both Svitolina and Bencic are excellent athletes equipped with accurate and consistent groundstrokes. As a result, long rallies may well be the order of the day. That will likely favour Svitolina, who has played one match less than Bencic so far this week and enjoyed a smoother route to the semifinals. In fact, it might just prove decisive.
Svitolina in three
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Main photo:
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