The second WTA tournament in Chicago this year continues to deliver quality tennis across the board. Top seeds, rising stars and veteran hopefuls alike are putting on superb displays of skill this week which is great for the fans. As always, we here at LWOT are offering our predictions for every match on the slate, including Elise Mertens vs Danielle Collins. But who will book their place in Friday’s quarterfinal?
WTA Chicago Day 4 Predictions
Mai Hontama vs Shelby Rogers
Head-to-head: first meeting
Mai Hontama is only at this stage because Anett Kontaveit withdrew from the tournament. She will still benefit hugely from the points that she gains by making the third round of a WTA 500 event. However, to expect her to do more than make an appearance in this match would be misguided. Her opponent – Shelby Rogers – is in the midst of a career year and just handed Bianca Andreescu a straight sets defeat in her last match. This match likely won’t last too long or be a close-fought affair if the American is at that level again.
Prediction: Rogers in 2
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Belinda Bencic vs Tereza Martincova
Head-to-head: Bencic 3-0 Martincova
Three meetings and three wins without dropping a set mean all odds point to Belinda Bencic winning this match. The Swiss was poor in the first set of her second round up against Maddison Inglis, but dropped just one game in the next 13 to emerge a comfortable victor and book her place in the last 16. Tereza Martincova, meanwhile, did well to battle past Tamara Zidansek in the last round and has had a great year overall in 2021. However, Bencic is a different level of opponent to those she has made a habit of beating this year and it will take something special here for her to win. It doesn’t look the Czech has that in her just yet so expect the Olympic champion to advance.
Prediction: Bencic in 2
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Elina Svitolina vs Elena-Gabriela Ruse
Head-to-head: first meeting
This is a great week for Elena-Gabriela Ruse who was just inside the top 100 on the WTA tour before this tournament began. She played good tennis to breeze past Kateryna Kozlova in her last match and now faces top seed Elina Svitolina in a bid to reach the quarterfinals. The Ukrainian is in superb form and will prove a mighty tough opponent to beat. However, brilliant runs must end at some stage and it often happens when we least expect it to in the world of tennis. Ruse may just be solid enough to get through this by frustrating Svitolina with her excellent defence. Svitolina isn’t always comfortable on the front foot and may well hit too many errors if she is forced to be the aggressor.
Prediction: Ruse in 3
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Garbine Muguruza vs Victoria Azarenka
Head-to-head: Muguruza 4-2 Azarenka
What a treat this match is. These two powerhouses of the women’s game have treated us to two three-set epics in 2021 already and this match should be just as entertaining, Both Muguruza and Azarenka are brilliant ball strikers and play wonderful, attacking tennis. Trying to call which of these two-time Grand Slam champions will emerge victorious is no easy task. However, Muguruza leads the head to head by a considerable margin and has won the last three matches they have played. With that in mind, I have to give the edge to the Spaniard who is ever so close to regaining that Grand Slam-winning form that saw her reach the peak of women’s tennis. Expect this one to go the distance, but for Muguruza to end up on top.
Prediction: Muguruza in 3
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