Eight players remain in the second WTA tournament in as many weeks to be held in Adelaide. The round of 16 gave us a good idea of who the serious challengers for the title are. It looks like we may well have an American champion here, with five of the remaining eight players representing the United States. Among them are Madison Keys and Coco Gauff, both of whom have established themselves as favourites with their play this week. Will one of them lift the title? Is one of the other six women going to be our eventual champion? We discuss exactly that in our WTA Adelaide 2 quarterfinal predictions.
WTA Adelaide 2 Quarterfinal Predictions
Alison Riske vs Madison Brengle
Head-to-head: 3 – 0 Riske
Madison Brengle continues to surprise down under. The American racked up another impressive win against Rebecca Peterson to book her spot in the quarterfinals. However, this is not a matchup she enjoys, having never beaten Alison Riske despite the pair meeting three times. Admittedly all those meetings were in 2017 or earlier, so they don’t hold much sway in trying to predict this contest. Still, Riske will feel confident here given how the head-to-head reads. This will likely go the distance given the form Brengle is in. However, Riske is the better of the two Americans and I expect her to get over the line in the end. Riske is an elite defender in the women’s game and I don’t think Brengle has the weapons to hit through her. That should be telling in what will be a close match.
Prediction: Riske in 3
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Tamara Zidansek vs Lauren Davis
Head-to-head: First meeting
Lauren Davis has picked up back to back upset wins in Adelaide after coming through qualifying. She beat both Jil Teichmann and Jasmine Paolini to book her spot in this match. What makes that even more impressive is that both enjoyed the best years of their respective careers in 2021. To knock out two players full of form and confidence takes some doing. However, if she wants a place in the semifinals she will have to do it a third time. Tamara Zidansek also enjoyed a career best year in 2021. She won her first WTA title and reached the semifinal of the French Open behind her lethal forehand. If she is allowed to dictate points off that wing, Davis will struggle to replicate her heroics from previous rounds. The American is a great defender and counterpuncher, but Zidansek has enough power to hit through her. Davis may well draw enough errors to push this to three sets, but I expect the Slovenian to merge victorious in the end.
Prediction: Zidansek in 3
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Madison Keys vs Ludmilla Samsonova
Head-to-head: 1 – 0 Samsonova
The big-name factor surrounding Coco Gauff at the moment means she deservedly takes the headline spot in this article. However, I think this match will be the pick of the bunch in Thursday’s action. Madison Keys is playing the kind of tennis that saw her inside the top 10 in the women’s game earlier in her career. That level was enough to bring her within a set of winning a Grand Slam in 2018. She is yet to drop a set here as a result and is the favourite to win the entire tournament if she maintains this level. However, That is something she hasn’t been able to do in recent years and Ludmilla Samsonova won’t make it easy for her either. The Russian beat Keys last year on the way to her maiden WTA title in Berlin. She is equally aggressive and powerful off both wings, though her serve is not as potent as the American’s. If both players are firing then this will be a brilliant match full of winners and ridiculous shotmaking. Keys’ serve should be the deciding factor here. If she serves well, she wins and I think she serves well again here.
Prediction: Keys in 3
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Coco Gauff vs Ana Konjuh
Head-to-head: First meeting
Gauff looked slightly shaky at times in her previous match against Marta Kostyuk. However, she found her best tennis when it mattered and edged out the match in three sets. Similarly, Ana Konjuh needed three sets to get past Marketa Vondrousova. Gauff’s serve is a clear advantage for the young American here but outside of that there isn’t much between these two. Konjuh may be the lower ranked player, but she is a former top 20 talent who may well have climbed higher were it not for her injury struggles. She is playing fearless tennis in the knowledge that she is lucky to be playing again at all and that makes her dangerous. I think Konjuh is ready to make a statement in 2022 and that starts with a win here over one of the rising young stars in the women’s game.
Prediction: Konjuh in 3
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