The final eight players in the WTA Hungarian Grand Prix are set. Of the eight seeds that started the tournament, only two remains. #1 seed Yulia Putintseva headlines the days action. Hot on her heels is #2 seed Danielle Collins who has looked in superb form so far this week. Both are playing top tennis and will be hard to beat. We take a look at who among the remaining field should feature in the final four in our WTA Hungarian Grand Prix quarterfinal predictions.
WTA Hungarian Grand Prix Quarterfinal Predictions
Dalma Galfi vs Olga Danilovic
Head-to-head:
This match represents an incredible opportunity for both women. Dalma Galfi is yet to feature inside the top 100 on the women’s tour. However, a win in Budapest would push her to the cusp of doing exactly that. The hometown hero has been in scintillating form on the red dirt in recent weeks and will like her chances here. However, her opponent has far more experience in the latter stages of tournaments. Olga Danilovic lifted a WTA title in Moscow back in 2018 as a 17-year old. She has failed to push on from that early momentum but has shown in flashes this year that she has top level tennis in her. I think she has slightly more to offer than Galfi and the experience at this stage of tournaments will play a part in what should be a comfortable win here.
Prediction: Danilovic in 2
Panna Udvardy vs Anhelina Kalinina
Head-to-head:
Anhelina Kalinina did well to beat third seed Bernarda Pera in their second round encounter on Wednesday. The Ukrainian has looked in great form this week and is definitely a dark horse to lift the title, particularly considering she has perhaps the easiest quarterfinal matchup of the top players remaining. Paula Udvardy is in great form on clay, having won two ITF events on the surface this year. However, the 22-year old remains outside the top 200 in the world and is the least proven of the women remaining in Budapest. I suspect her recent form will mean she is able to take a set off Kalinina her, but that should be all she manages.
Prediction: Kalinina in 3
Paula Ormaechea vs Danielle Collins
Head-to-head:
Paula Ormaechea has played great tennis so far this week. However, she is up against a different calibre of player in American Danielle Collins. The Argentine is a clay court specialist and will feel confident on the surface. Nevertheless, the gulf in quality is simply to big to ignore here. Collins is a perennial top 50 player whilst Ormaechea has cracked the top 100 on the tour at year end just once. Collins has done incredibly well to bounce back from her physical ailments so quickly and I expect she may well be the Lady lifting the trophy come Sunday. Either way, she should be the player advancing here.
Prediction: Collins in 2
Yulia Putintseva vs Kateryna Kozlova
Head-to-head:
This could well be the matchup of the day in Budapest. Kozlova has been a way off her best in recent months and I didn’t expect much from her in this tournament. However, she fought back admirably against an in form Ana Bogdan last round and looks like a real threat given her level in the second two sets of that match. Nonetheless, if she is to advance she must get past one of the fiercest competitors in tennis. Yulia Putintseva has looked every bit the top seed and favourite so far this week. She is yet to drop a set in Hungary and I expect that trend to continue here. The Kazakh will make Kozlova play enough balls to draw errors in her game and that will prove the difference in the end.
Prediction: Putintseva in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
