After a long day of play due to rainouts the semifinals are set at the WTA Washington Open. In true WTA fashion, only one seed managed to reach the semis, sixth seed Kaia Kanepi. While she is likely the favorite all four players have impressed this week and each have a real shot at the title. Both matches are analyzed and predicted below!
WTA Washington Semifinal Prediction
Kaia Kanepi vs Daria Saville
Head-to-head: 1-0 Kanepi
Saville has had an excellent run in Washington losing just one set and scoring the upset over top-seed Jessica Pegula. She has had a strong year to date and is looking to continue it with her second title in a long career. Kanepi has dropped two sets, though her game is excellent in hard courts. They played just once over 10 years ago so they are unfamiliar with each other’s games. Kanepi has elite power and strength that will be hard for Saville to deal with. Kanepi will take control of the match and hit through Saville and get past her to make the final.
Prediction: Kanepi in 3
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Xiyu Wang vs Liudmila Samsonova
Head-to-head: 1-0 Samsonova
Wang made a surprise appearance on the semifinals as a lucky loser. Samsonova had navigated a tricky draw to get here with Mertens, Tomljanovic, and Raducanu standing in her way. She has easily beaten all of these opponents and looks like a real threat for just her second WTA title. While Wang has certainly played well this week and looked dominant, she does not have enough to beat Samsonova. While she did score a big win over Azarenka in the quarterfinal, Azarenka had already played a match earlier in the day and seemed tired. Wang is a good young talent but Samsonova has a better overall game and will control the match from the start and take the victory.
Prediction: Samsonova in 2
Main photo from Getty.
