A blockbuster semifinal line-up awaits at the WTA Ostrava Open. The top seeds will be in action as Iga Swiatek takes on Maria Sakkari and Petra Kvitova faces Anett Kontaveit. A couple of very even match-up, but who has the slight edge?
Ostrava Semifinal Predictions
(1) Iga Swiatek vs (4) Maria Sakkari
Head-to-head: Sakkari 1-0 Swiatek
Iga Swiatek will be out to avenge her shock loss to Maria Sakkari at the quarterfinal stage at Roland Garros earlier thus year. Swiatek entered that match as the keen favourite to win the match and go on to defend her title in Paris. However, she was stunned by Sakkari, a 6-4 6-4 win for the Greek. Swiatek had some injury concerns on that day and was far from her best. Expect Saturday’s semi-final in Ostrava to play out a little differently.
This is a fascinating match-up, two of the strongest players on the WTA Tour, two of the heaviest forehands in the game. There’s a lot of similarities in the way these two play, both try to dominate with their heavy forehands, possess strong backhands and powerful first serves. This could go either way, but I’ll give the slight edge to Swiatek. Swiatek is the slightly better player, but importantly she is usually the stronger of the two mentally. Sakkari has a history of succumbing in important matches at the business end of tournaments, that’s why she still only has 1 WTA title to her name. Swiatek is usually very strong under pressure, in a match-up of fine margins this could be the deciding factor in the Pole’s favour.
Prediction: Swiatek in 3
Embed from Getty Images
(2) Petra Kvitova vs Anett Kontaveit
Head-to-head: Kvitova 5-2 Kontaveit
Anett Kontaveit has stormed into the semifinals without dropping a set with wins over Sorana Cirstea, Paula Badosa and Belinda Bencic. Furthermore, Kontaveit hasn’t dropped more than 4 games in a set this week. The Estonian is putting together a solid block of results having won her second career title in Cleveland last month before reaching the third round of the US Open where she narrowly lost to Iga Swiatek. The 25-year-old’s strong form will give her a good chance at overcoming a problematic record against Petra Kvitova.
Kvitova has a strong 5-2 head-to-head record over Kontaveit and has won their last 2 matches, including a 6-3 3-6 6-2 victory in Doha earlier this year in their most recent clash. However, Kvitova’s form has been shaky for most of the season, that was the case in her opening round match this week where she needed 3 sets to beat Anastasia Potapova. A 6-4 6-4 quarterfinal win over Jil Teichmann was a step in the right direction for the Czech. Nevertheless, I’m still not convinced at Kvitova’s level, if Kvitova is at her best she is the better player, but she hasn’t been at her best for a while. Kontaveit is playing very well at the moment, on current form Kontaveit seems more likely to prevail.
Prediction: Kontaveit in 3
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
