The round of 16 at the WTA Adelaide International wraps up on day five as four more players will punch their ticket to the quarterfinals. As always, this Australian Open lead-up field is filled with the world’s best looking to gain form ahead of the year’s first slam. As ever, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for all four matches on the slate. But who will come out on top?
WTA Adelaide Day 5 Predictions
Linda Noskova vs Claire Liu
Head-to-head: first meeting
Next-gen stars Linda Noskova and Claire Liu will meet for the first time as both players look for a highly coveted quarterfinal spot at the first WTA event of the season. Noskova and Liu advanced through two qualifying rounds before each winning their first-round matches in three sets. Noskova is looking to reach her second career tour-level quarterfinal, Liu, her sixth. Skill-wise, very little separates these two players; however, Liu should have a slight edge. The American has that much more experience in high-stakes matches and that should be the difference.
Prediction: Liu in 3
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Victoria Azarenka vs Qinwen Zheng
Head-to-head: first meeting
Former-world #1 Victoria Azarenka will square off with up-and-coming star Qinwen Zheng in the round of 16 in Adelaide. With the winner of this match taking on the winner of Noskvoa/Liu in the quarterfinals, these two will be extra motivated for this battle. Despite a current ranking of world #26, Azarenka still has a legitimate claim to be considered one of the best hard-court players in the sport. Zheng will have to break through the power and consistency Azarenka has from the baseline by mixing up her shots. Unfortunately for the 20-year-old, she probably does not have enough tricks in her bag (yet) to beat an in-form Azarenka.
Prediction: Azarenka in 3
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Jelena Ostapenko vs Irina-Camelia Begu
Head-to-head: Ostapenko 1-1 Begu
Seventh seed Jelena Ostapenko is looking to back up an impressive 6-1 6-3 first-round victory over Karolina Pliskova with a win against World No. 34 Irina-Camelia Begu. The two have split their previous meetings, with Ostapenko getting the better of Begu at last year’s Wimbledon. Ostapenko’s aggressive style of play is tough to beat if she boasts the same form she had in the first round. Expect the Latvian to push Begu deep into the court while making her chase balls all match long, making it challenging for the Romanian to establish any rhythm.
Prediction: Ostapenko in 2
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Ons Jabeur vs Sorana Cirstea
Head-to-head: Cirstea 2-1 Jabeur
Top seed Ons Jabeur begins her 2023 season with a round of 16 match against Sorana Cirstea. Despite suffering an injury that slowed down the back half of her 2022 season, Cirstea is playing some confident tennis in Adelaide. The 32-year-old Romanian looked dominant in her 6-0 7-6 first-round victory over Viktorija Golubic. Cirstea holds the 2-1 head-to-head advantage over Jabeur, though her victories came back in 2013 and 2014, whereas Jabeur got the better of her just last year. Expect last year’s result to once again come to fruition as the current world #2 looks to get in some valuable match time ahead of the first slam of the season.
Prediction: Jabeur in 2
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