It’s semifinals day at the WTA Bogota Open. It’s been a week full of surprises with new names making the most of a relatively weak field. As ever, we here at LWOT will be offering out predictions for both semifinals. But who will book their place in Sunday’s final?
WTA Bogota Semifinal Predictions
Tatjana Maria vs Kamila Rakhimova
Head-to-head: first meeting
Tatjana Maria has stormed through the main draw this week, dropping an average of 2.2 games per set through straight set wins over María Carlé, Rebecca Peterson and Mirjam Bjorklund. An impressive set of results for the 34-year-old, especially when considering she was a few points from defeat in the final round of qualifying where she beat Barbara Gatica in a third set tiebreaker.
Kamila Rakhimova has defied the odds this week having arrived in Bogota on a 6-math losing streak dating back to early January. The Russian has required a third set in each of her victories this week, a 6-2 3-6 7-5 opening round win over Aleksandra Krunic was followed by a 4-6 6-3 6-4 win from a set and a break down against the second seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia. Rakhimova secured her spot in the semifinals with a 6-3 4-6 6-2 win against Irina Bara.
I’ll side with Rakhimova here. Maria is yet to really be tested, that’s surely going to change in this matchup. Rakhimova has come through some tough matches this week against solid clay court players and looks set to reach the final.
Prediction: Rakhimova in 3
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Camila Osorio vs Laura Pigossi
Head-to-head: first meeting
The stars are aligning for Camila Osorio this week. The top seed is the only seed left in the tournament, all the biggest threats at the start of the week have been eliminated. Osorio’s level has gradually improved this week, allowing her to extend her winning streak in Bogota to 8 matches. The 20-year-old was fortunate in the first round where she benefited from the retirement of Ylena In-Albon with the scores locked at 2-2 in the third set. Osorio responded from that scrappy performance with a pair of straight set wins, 6-3 7-6 over İpek Öz and 6-1 6-4 against Elina Avanesyan.
Laura Pigossi has been the major surprise of the week. The 27-year-old arrived in Bogota having never won a WTA main draw match, now she’s into the semifinals via the qualifying draw. Pigossi secured the biggest win of the career at the quarterfinal stage where she saved three match points in a 6-2 4-6 7-6 win over Dayana Yastremska. Pigossi also claimed wins over Harmony Tan 6-4 6-3 and Ekaterine Gorgodze 6-3 6-2 in the main draw this week.
Osorio is clearly the heavy favourite in this matchup. Pigossi has already achieved far more than anyone could have anticipated this week. Osorio is a class above and should get the job done. However, Pigossi has nothing to lose in this matchup and a whole to gain, always a good position to be in. All the pressure is on Osorio who will know that she is expected to win the title from here. Pressure can derail players in these situations, but I still think Osorio pulls through.
Prediction: Osorio in 3
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