There should be plenty of entertaining tennis on day four at the WTA Strasbourg International. With the start of the French Open now just days away, every player left in the draw will surely be desperate to secure their place in the quarterfinals in Alsace-Lorraine. As always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the slate, including Barbora Krejcikova vs Caroline Garcia. But who will reach the last eight?
WTA Strasbourg Day 4 Predictions
Yulia Putintseva vs Jil Teichmann
Head-to-head: Teichmann 1-0 Putintseva
Jil Teichmann remains frustratingly inconsistent, but the Swiss is a dangerous opponent when she is at her best, particularly on the clay. She arrived at the WTA Strasbourg International with a creditable 11-8 record in 2021 at WTA-level and opened her campaign with a comprehensive 6-3 6-2 win over Russia’s Anna Blinkova. That will surely have given her real confidence heading into this clash with former-French Open quarterfinalist Yulia Putintseva.
The Kazakh has not been at her best this season, with her results on the European clay falling some way short of her usually high standards. She scored just her second win on the red dirt this season in the first round after battling past Rebecca Peterson in a third-set tiebreak, but will almost certainly need to find a higher level of tennis if she is to get the better of Teichmann, who won their only previous meeting 6-2 6-2. Putintseva has the quality to do it, but her recent efforts suggest that it is unlikely.
Prediction: Teichmann in 2
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Clara Burel vs Ekaterina Alexandrova
Head-to-head: first meeting
The future looks to be very bright for the 20-year-old Clara Burel, who announced herself – to the French tennis world at least – with a run to the third round at Roland Garros last year. She has struggled for consistency at times this season, but won an ITF title in Saint-Gaudens last time out and maintained that fine form by thrashing Varvara Gracheva for the loss of only four games in the first round at the WTA Strasbourg International.
Nonetheless, this looks like being a sharp step up in quality for the French young gun. Ekaterina Alexandrova has not been at her best lately, but the Russian has been a consistent presence in the top 40 for a reason and she delivered a reminder of her enduring quality with a 6-1 7-5 win over Lauren Davis in the first round. This match may well go the distance, Burel is certainly playing well enough to win a set, but expect the more-experienced Alexandrova to come out on top.
Prediction: Alexandrova in 3
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Shelby Rogers vs Jule Niemeier
Head-to-head: first meeting
There is no doubt that Shelby Rogers will have the advantage in terms of experience coming into this match. The American has 254 match wins at WTA-level and has twice made the last eight at a Major, including at the French Open in 2016. Jule Niemeier, in contrast, remains inexperienced at the highest level, with the German still yet to break into the world’s top 200. However, she has enjoyed a good start to 2021, a trend that has continued so far at the WTA Strasbourg International.
Starting her week in the qualifying, she beat Bianca Turati and her compatriot Andrea Petkovic to reach the main draw, where she dismissed the French teenager Diane Parry 6-3 6-4 in the first round. Rogers, meanwhile, had to come through a testing first-round encounter with Christina McHale that she eventually won 7-5 in the third. She may have to work similarly hard to make the last eight, but the veteran American should have just about too much power for the 21-year-old Niemeier.
Prediction: Rogers in 3
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