Despite a mass exodus of the top seeds so far at the WTA Acapulco, the two semifinals both promise plenty of intrigue and quality tennis. Third seed Donna Vekic of Croatia will battle China’s Yafan Wang whilst American Sofia Kenin, seeded fifth, takes on Canadian young gun Bianca Andreescu. But who will book their place in the final?
Donna Vekic vs Yafan Wang
2019 has seen Croatia’s Donna Vekic play some fine tennis, notably in her run to the final in St Petersburg (lost to Bertens). But there have also been an number of disappointing results, including a second-round exit at the Australian Open, where she fell to Kimberly Birrell, and in Dubai where she lost first round to Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur. Wang Yafan, in contrast, has been impressively consistent, reaching the semifinals in Shenzhen and the last eight at the Thailand Open.
So far in Acapulco, Vekic has been a woman on a mission and is yet to drop a set. She began her campaign with a dominant 6-0 6-3 win over Misaki Doi of Japan, before battling past the USA’s Caroline Dolehide 6-4 7-5 to reach the quarterfinals. There she had too much for eighth seed Johanna Konta, winning 6-3 7-5. Wang too is yet to drop a set, dismissing Marie Bouzkova 6-2 6-2, before Monica Puig retired from their second-round match trailing 1-4. Wang then bested Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-3 6-4 to reach the semifinals.
Of the two, Vekic is the more powerfully equipped. The Croatian, at her best, is a phenomenal ball-striker, capable of hitting through opponents with both her forehand and backhand. But Wang has a very effective forehand, with which she spreads the court superbly, and she moves very well. She will likely trust in those strengths to frustrate Vekic in the first meeting between the pair. However, when Vekic is playing with the sort of freedom and focus she has displayed so far this week, she is a hard woman to stop.
Vekic in two
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Sofia Kenin vs Bianca Andreescu
After winning her first title at the Hobart International, taking then-world #1 Simona Halep the distance in the second round at Melbourne Park and upsetting Daria Kasatkina in Dubai, Sofia Kenin arrived in Acapulco full of confidence. But Canada’s Bianca Andreescu, who came through the qualifying to reach the second round at the Australian Open before winning a WTA 125K title in Newport Beach, is in fine form herself at the start of 2019.
Kenin, unusually, benefited from retirements in both her first and second round matches. First Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson pulled out seven games into the first set of their clash and then Katie Boulter of Great Britain withdrew trailing 1-6 1-4 in the second round. But Kenin then had to battle hard to overcome former-world #1 Victoria Azarenka, eventually claiming a 6-4 4-6 7-5 win. Andreescu, meanwhile, has made swift progress through the draw, dispatching Jil Teichmann, fourth seed Mihaela Buzarnescu and seventh seed Zheng Saisai without dropping a set.
Both Kenin and Andreescu are emblematic of the new generation of WTA players who are both impressive athletes and terrific ball-strikers. As a result, expect this match to feature no shortage of gripping rallies and flashing winners. There also looks to be little to separate the pair on paper, although Andreescu won their only previous clash in straight sets two years ago. But Kenin has gained a great deal of valuable experience since then, more than the 18-year-old Canadian, and that could prove the difference in a tight contest.
Kenin in three
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