After a stunning day of WTA action in Eastbourne, including a winning comeback for Serena Williams alongside Ons Jabeur on the doubles court and brilliant upsets from Brits Jodie Burrage and Katie Boulter, let’s see what Day 4 will have in store. As always, we here at LWOT will preview and predict every match, including four in a separate article. Who do you think will win?
WTA Eastbourne Day 4 Predictions
Yulia Putintseva vs Anhelina Kalinina
Head-to-head: Putintseva 2-0 Kalinina
Putintseva is not known for her grass-court play, her best career result on the surface being a Birmingham quarterfinal, never reaching past the second round of Wimbledon. The Kazakh looked good in her first match in Eastbourne though, dismissing Sara Sorribes Tormo in straight sets. Kalinina is also far from a stellar grass player, only getting her first main tour win on the surface two weeks ago in Den Bosch. The Ukrainian took losses against Ekaterina Alexandrova and Daria Kasatkina after that first Den Bosch win but her fortunes shifted in Eastbourne. Kalinina got a second-set retirement from Sorana Cirstea but then pulled off an upset over Maria Sakkari in three sets. Putintseva won both of their previous meetings including last season’s Budapest final. Grass is going to be different but I expect Putintseva to come out on top again.
Prediction: Putintseva in 2
Lesia Tsurenko vs Magda Linette
Head-to-head: Linette 1-0 Tsurenko
The Ukrainian veteran has a decent career record on grass and has been doing well there this season. Tsurenko is 6-1 on grass in 2022 with her only loss coming to Simona Halep. In her last match, she pulled off an impressive upset over Elena Rybakina, coming back from a set down. Linette was having a middling grass season going into Eastbourne, beating Katarzyna Kawa but losing to Tereza Martincova and Dayana Yastremska. At this tournament, the Pole has been better, first beating Danka Kovinic before pulling off a big upset over Alison Riske. Linette beat the No. 12 grass player on tour, according to Tennis Abstract’s Elo rating, in a third-set tiebreak. The previous meeting should not play into this much, considering it was in 2011. Confidence will be high for both players coming into this match but Linette is the better player at this point in their careers.
Prediction: Linette in 2
Marta Kostyuk vs Harriet Dart
Head-to-head: Kostyuk 1-0 Dart
Kostyuk has had middling grass results over her young career but the Ukrainian has had a very strong start in Eastbourne this week. The 19-year-old allowed Viktorija Golubic, defending Wimbledon quarterfinalist, just three games in the first round. Kostyuk then pulled off another upset over Barbora Krejcikova in the Czech’s second match back from injury, though this time it was tougher with the teenager taking it 6-4 in the third.
The 25-year-old Brit has many more grass matches under her belt than other players her age, already playing over 60 matches on the surface in her career. Dart has had a decent grass season this year, beating Camila Giorgi on her way to Nottingham quarterfinals. In Eastbourne, the Brit beat both Madison Brengle and Jil Teichmann. Kostyuk blew Dart away in their previous match, allowing the 25-year-old just two games in Dubai qualifying just four months ago. I expect the Ukrainian to be victorious again.
Prediction: Kostyuk in 2
Petra Kvitova vs Katie Boulter
Head-to-head: first meeting
Very few people expected Boulter to be showing this sort of level on grass after three months off. A left leg issue first popped for the Brit in Lyon and after Indian Wells a week later, Boulter had to take a break that ended up taking her entire clay season. The 25-year-old has been back with a vengeance though, going 7-2 on grass so far and earning wins over Alison Riske and Karolina Pliskova. The win over the former No. 1 was the most recent for Boulter, coming back after losing the first set 6-1 to win 6-4 in the third.
Kvitova has struggled this season, going 11-13 with the Miami quarterfinals her best result. The two-time Wimbledon champion may be past her best at 32 but she is still a player to be feared on grass. This is definitely a match to look forward to if both players bring their A-game but I see the Brit pulling off another upset and confirming her status as the Eastbourne Czech-slayer, beating Martincova, Pliskova and now Kvitova.
Prediction: Boulter in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
