After a thrilling opening four days at the China Open, the remaining competitors are set to battle for a place in the quarterfinals. With valuable points in the race for a place in the field at Shenzhen on offer, there should be no shortage of entertaining action. But who will advance and who will fall to defeat?
China Open Day Five Predictions
Ashleigh Barty vs Zheng Saisai
Head-to-head: Barty 4-0 Zheng
Ashleigh Barty, with the exception of her run to the title at the Birmingham Classic, has not quite hit the heights since winning the French Open. But she has played some good tennis in that stretch and made an impressive start to her China Open campaign by dismissing Yulia Putintseva 6-4 6-2 after a first-round bye. She may need to maintain that level against home hope Zheng Saisai, who demolished Sloane Stephens in the second round for the loss of just four games. But Barty has had the best of this head-to-head by some margin having never lost to Zheng. The Australian can be vulnerable to being out-hit, but Zheng does not have that sort of power and it is hard to see her out-foxing Barty.
Prediction: Barty in 2
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Elina Svitolina vs Sofia Kenin
Head-to-head: Kenin 2-1 Svitolina
This should be an excellent match. Both Elina Svitolina and Sofia Kenin have made fine starts in Beijing and both will be eager to secure a spot in the quarterfinals. Kenin negotiated a tricky opening-round test in the form of Garbine Muguruza impressively, beating the Spaniard 6-0 2-6 6-2, before cruising past Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3 6-3. Svitolina, meanwhile, faced an early challenge of her own up against Anastasija Sevastova, but battled past the Latvian from a set down and then edged out Wang Yafan 7-6 7-6. But Kenin has looked, albeit marginally, the better player so far at the China Open and twice got the better of Svitolina over the summer. Expect a close contest, but the American should just about edge it.
Prediction: Kenin in 3
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Petra Kvitova vs Belinda Bencic
Head-to-head: Kvitova 3-1 Bencic
It was a largely indifferent summer for Petra Kvitova, but she found some form in Wuhan where she will surely have been disappointed not to win the title after reaching the last four. And she looked sharp in the first round at the China Open, further extending her healthy head-to-head advantage over Kristina Mladenovic with a composed 6-4 6-4 win. Belinda Bencic, in contrast, looked rather shaky in her second-round clash with the veteran Venus Williams, but eventually did enough to emerge a victor in three sets. However, that sort of performance will surely be punished by Kvitova, who looks at home playing in China.
Prediction: Kvitova in 3
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