It wasn’t a good day for the underdogs on Wednesday at the WTA Strasbourg Open as all pre-match favorites booked their places in the quarterfinals and, as always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match. But who will advance to the semifinals?
WTA Strasbourg Quarterfinal Predictions
Elise Mertens vs Kaja Juvan
Head-to-head: first meeting
This match has an upset tag written all over it. Juvan is clearly not lacking in confidence having won 21 matches across all levels this season. Mertens will need to clean up her game which has looked rusty in the past couple of rounds after being sidelined for nearly a month due to injury. Wins over little-known Carole Monnet and Anna-Lena Friedsam have been far from convincing. And if the Belgian wanders off her game, Juvan might sense the upset.
Prediction: Juvan in 3
Karolina Pliskova vs Maryna Zanevska
Head-to-head: Pliskova 1-0 Zanevska
Pliskova has quashed doubts regarding her fitness with a decent run to the quarterfinals of the WTA Strasbourg Open. The big-serving Czech has scaled the challenges of Marta Kostyuk and Bernarda Pera to get her 2022 season back on track. She will be looking to make it three wins in a row for the first time since last year’s US Open. Maryna Zanevska, for her part, came into this tournament with fresh concerns regarding her back injury which resurfaced at last week’s WTA 125K event in Saint-Malo.
It meant that the world #65 has been forced to either retire or withdraw from a match for the third time this season. Pliskova has used her serve as a cornerstone to everything good she has done this week, hammering 18 aces in two matches and saving a whopping 15 break points. If she excels in recreating those numbers, I fully expect her to take charge against the Belgian.
Prediction: Pliskova in 2
Angelique Kerber vs Magda Linette
Head-to-head: first meeting
Magda Linette will take some stopping this week. The Polish #2 breezed past Heather Watson 6-1 6-1 in just 69 minutes, backing up her routine first-round win over Varvara Gracheva. Linette will face her toughest test yet when she takes on three-time Grand Slam winner Angelique Kerber. The German lefty is making an unaccustomed appearance at this tournament. Kerber’s only main draw appearance in Strasbourg before this week came over 10 years ago when she was sent packing in the first round. It has been a difficult campaign for the 34-year-old Kerber, but I think her win over Sasnovich in the quarterfinals has warmed her nicely to combat Linette’s aggressive ball striking.
Prediction: Kerber in 3
Viktorija Golubic vs Oceane Dodin
Head-to-head: Dodin 1-0 Golubic
Dodin has finally solved the puzzle in Strasbourg. The 25-year-old Frenchwoman had never won a main draw match in three visits to her home tournament, but she was able to get the monkey off her back with an absorbing three-set win over Ana Konjuh. That win served as a springboard to an even better performance in her next round, as she dismissed Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova 6-2 6-1. Dodin’s next assignment will be in the form of Viktorija Golubic. The ninth seed has the variety in her locker to disrupt Dodin’s rhythm. However, the local favorite is operating at an excellent level this week and should be expected to advance into the semifinals.
Prediction: Dodin in 3
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