Day 4 of the WTA Birmingham Classic is upon us. Top seed Jelena Ostapenko is in action, and will hope to bring her top level which she showed sporadically in her opening match. As throughout the week, we will be offering up our predictions on the day’s action. So, who marches on to the quarterfinals?
WTA Birmingham Classic Day 4 Matches
Camila Giorgi vs Lauren Davis
Head-to-head: Davis 4 – 1 Giorgi
Both of these players know their way around a grass court fairly well. Giorgi, however, has been the more successful of the two with a grass title to her name. Despite this, she’s been dominated in this matchup so far – though they haven’t played for 5 years. Giorgi is also a very tough player to predict – she can blast winners past anyone for fun but can also implode completely.
Davis has the tools to make this competitive, but Giorgi undoubtedly has more firepower and general weapons. If the Italian is playing well, then she should be the winner. She’ll probably lose her level for a set, but she should come out on top.
Prediction: Giorgi in 3
Elena-Gabriela Ruse vs Shuai Zhang
Head-to-head: Zhang 1 – 0 Ruse
Zhang performed pretty well at Nottingham last week where she reached the quarterfinals. She’s acclimatising well to the surface quickly, and could be a strong challenger this week.
This is Ruse’s first grass court tournament of the year, so may well still be in the process of getting used to the surface. That said, she did very well come to through a tight two set battle with Wang. Zhang looks pretty confident right now and will go in as the favorite, but it may get interesting.
Prediction: Zhang in 3
Beatriz Haddad Maia vs Magdalena Frech
Head-to-head: First meeting
Haddad Maia is on an absolute roll right now. She won in Nottingham in spectacular fashion last week, and has clearly brought this form to the UK grass courts. She took down 5th seed Petra Kvitova in straight sets, and is a danger to anyone she meets in this form.
Frech is a nifty player, but lacks a lot of grass court experience. If Haddad Maia keeps up this incredible form, I can’t see her losing here. The Brazilian should march on here.
Prediction: Haddad Maia in 2
Jelena Ostapenko vs Dayana Yastremska
Head-to-head: First meeting
Ostapenko may not be winning the crowd over with her attitude, but her tennis is pretty sensational when she puts it together. There are few, if any players on the WTA tour who hit the ball as hard as she does. The trouble is that she’s so hot and cold that the majority of her matches will hinge on her racket, and it’s tough to know when she’ll bring her A game.
Yastremska is a great player and could well cause Ostapenko some trouble, especially if the top seed starts spraying errors. I expect this will go the distance, but Ostapenko is the more talented player and should make enough winners in the important moments to come through this one.
Prediction: Ostapenko in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
