There should be plenty of entertaining action on semifinal day at the WTA Luxembourg Open with two intriguing matches on the slate. As always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for both matches, but who will book their place in Sunday’s final?
WTA Luxembourg Semifinal Predictions
Ludmilla Samsonova vs Jelena Ostapenko
Head-to-head: Ostapenko 1-0 Samsonova
Ludmilla Samsonova will no doubt be hoping to be more competitive than she was when this pair last met. That match came at the 2020 Australian Open in the first round, with Jelena Ostapenko scoring a dominant 6-1 6-4 win. Fortunately, the Russian has improved considerably in the interim and she comes into this match in the midst of a breakout season, which has seen her win her first tour-level title on the grass in Berlin and reach the fourth round at Wimbledon.
This week, she has accounted for Misaki Doi, Oceane Dodin and top seed Belinda Bencic, all without losing a set. Jelena Ostapenko, meanwhile, has beaten Jule Niemeier, Arianne Hartono and Alize Cornet to reach her second semifinal of the season. But it is unquestionably Samsonova who has been playing the better tennis, both this week and across this season. This should be a close match, but expect the Russian to be the player to reach the final.
Prediction: Samsonova in 3
Embed from Getty Images
Marketa Vondrousova vs Clara Tauson
Head-to-head: first meeting
This has the makings of another close match. Marketa Vondrousova has perhaps failed to capitalise on her run to the French Open final in 2019 – in part due to injuries – but the Czech is a formidable opponent when she is on song. Alison Van Uytvanck, Jana Fett and Elise Mertens have all discovered as much this week, losing to Vondrousova without winning a set between them. But Clara Tauson may well offer more resistance.
The Dane got her campaign in Luxembourg off to a dominant start with a 6-2 6-3 win over Astra Sharma, which she backed up by battling past fourth seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in three sets. She then dismissed Marie Bouzkova to reach the semifinals. But this may be a task beyond the 18-year-old. If Vondrousova maintains the level she has shown so far at the WTA Luxembourg Open, she will be a very hard player to stop. Expect her to have too much for Tauson.
Prediction: Vondrousova in 3
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
