Petra Martic will face Margarita Gasparyan in the semifinals of the 2019 TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup while Barbora Strycova is playing Marketa Vondrousova. Who will prevail?
Marketa Vondrousova vs Barbora Strycova
Head to head: 2-0 Vondrousova
The left-handed 19-year-old Czech Vondrousova had her big breakthrough two years ago in Biel, where she won her first WTA title. 2018 didn’t go that good for her, but she’s finally back on the right track, having won 17 out of her last 20 matches. This includes back-to-back quarterfinals at the Sunshine Double, including a very comfortable win over Barbora Strycova in Miami. This week in Istanbul, she’s already taken out Tomljanovic, Kuznetsova and Arruabarrena, and it seems like she’s getting even better and better with each match. Her more experienced compatriot is no doubt a very decent clay court player, but with the kind of disposition that Vondrousova has been showing recently, there is simply no way to pick this one against her right now.
Prediction: Vondrousova in 2
Margarita Gasparyan vs Petra Martic
Head to head: First meeting
Margarita Gasparyan hasn’t won a clay court WTA main draw match prior to this week, but it didn’t stop her from defeating Johanna Larsson and Mihaela Buzarnescu in hard-fought three-setters. On Friday, she advanced to the semifinals after defeating Veronika Kudermetova, in a match that featured one of the weirdest first sets possible. The players traded eleven consecutive breaks of serve, before Gasparyan was finally able to hold, quite surprisingly she did it claiming four points to none. The second set went in a slightly more conventional way and the Russian cruised to 7-5, 6-4 victory. Meanwhile, Petra Martic managed to back up her Charleston semifinal performance with another one here, however, she also had to do it the hard way. The Croat lost a set in all her three matches so far – against Tamara Zidansek, Ana Bogdan and Kristina Mladenovic. They’ve both been on the ropes a few times already here, but it’s Martic’s natural ability to play on clay and her experience that lead us into believing that she might just pull it off once again.
Prediction: Martic in 3
Main Photo:
