After an entertaining week of tennis in South Australia, just two women are still in contention at the WTA Adelaide International. Both will have high hopes of lifting the title after playing some excellent tennis so far, but one will have to walk away empty handed. As always, we here at LWOT are offering our prediction for the final, but will it be the unheralded Linda Noskova or the second seed Aryna Sabalenka who wins the title in Adelaide?
WTA Adelaide Final Prediction
Linda Noskova vs Aryna Sabalenka
Head-to-head: first meeting
The 18-year-old Noskova had already been capturing plenty of attention thanks to an impressive 2022 season. But few could have predicted just how well she has played so far in Adelaide. She started her campaign in the qualifying, beating eighth seed Anna Kalinskaya and third seed Anastasia Potapova to secure her place in the main draw. She continued to impress, upsetting third seed Daria Kasatkina in her opener before reaching the quarterfinals with a 6-2 6-2 win over Claire Liu.
In the last eight, she dug deep to edge out Victoria Azarenka 8-6 in a third-set tiebreak to set up a semifinal clash with top seed and Wimbledon and US Open runner-up Ons Jabeur. The Tunisian was understandably the favourite going into the match, but Noskova showed no signs of being overawed by the occasion or her opponent. She did lose her way in the second set, but was the better player for much of the match and ran out a deserved 6-3 1-6 6-3 winner.
Sabalenka, meanwhile, started her week at the WTA Adelaide International with a 7-6 7-6 win over Liudmila Samsonova in the last 16 after a first-round bye. She was not at her best in that match, but was able to find her best when it mattered most. She looked sharper in getting the better of Marketa Vondrousova in straight sets in the quarterfinals before hammering surprise semifinalist Irina-Camelia Begu for the loss of only four games in the semifinals.
Neither player is afraid to go for the shots, so expect to see plenty of winners. At this point, Sabalenka probably has the easier power and more reliable groundstrokes, with much of Noskova’s power coming from how flat she hits the ball, particularly on the forehand side. But she does have a better serve and whilst Sabalenka is technically sound, she can struggle mentally. Still, provided she can maintain her focus, expect the Belarusian to have just about enough to get over the line in this hard-hitting clash.
Prediction: Sabalenka in 3
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