The final at the WTA Morocco Open in Rabat is to be contested between Claire Liu and Martina Trevisan. Liu survived an inspired performance from Mayar Sherif in the quarterfinals, saving a match point on the Egyptian’s serve before getting a walkover from Anna Bondar in the semifinals. Meanwhile, 6’3″ Martina Trevisan has been playing stellar clay-court tennis all week even getting a scalp over former world #1 Garbine Mugurza in the second-round. In their maiden WTA Tour-level final, who will pick up their maiden title? Here’s our prediction.
WTA Rabat Final Prediction
Martina Trevisan vs Claire Liu
H2H: Trevisan 0-0 Liu
To those that haven’t watched any professional tennis in a minute, Martina Trevisan’s run to the final looks more impressive than Claire Liu’s on paper.
Being realistic, however, her win over Garbine Muguruza wasn’t particularly telling given the Spaniard’s incredibly poor run of form of late. With the second biggest win in terms of ranking grounded, her path to the final this week hasn’t been immense – she’s defeated similar sized hitters to herself with tricky lefty forehands and hardy fitness but nothing overwhelming for her opponents.
Credit to Trevisan, this is definitely still a commendable run. This had to be said out loud however as the same doggedness may not work quite as well against Claire Liu. Here’s what Liu has been relying on this week to get through her draw.
- Form: Liu has been on a tear on clay recently, winning a W125 in Paris against a stacked draw (defeated four top-100 players) and defying the odds against Sherif this week.
- Serve: Liu takes more chances on her first-serve than Trevisan and should be able to withstand the returning capabilities of the diminutive Italian better than those that came before her. Even on clay, the pop she gets on her first-serve shouldn’t be underestimated.
At the same time, looking at the two of them from the ground, Trevisan might have the slight advantage.
- Forehand to Backhand: Liu can tee off on both wings but is more comfortable doing so on her forehand. She can also lean to more of a counterpunching strategy if the unforced errors start spraying. Though it’s not huge, Trevisan’s forehand is very effective on the clay and would more than likely go high and cross-court right into the slightly weaker of Liu’s two wings.
Though Liu may be ever so slightly the more likely of the two to be the aggressor, Trevisan could be dangerous if she can sink her teeth into some longer rallies throughout the match. It’s hardly a question of whether or not Claire Liu can serve better but form, the serve and her ability to inject slightly more pace than Trevisan may give her an advantage in more tense moments.
It will probably be close. We can’t overlook Trevisan’s stubbornness from the baseline if she’s feeling the conditions. Those slight advantages are nudging us towards a first title for the American, however.
Be sure to watch their match at 13:00 GMT +1.
Prediction: Liu in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
