The biggest story of the 2023 Linz Open will once again be Maria Sakkari and whether she can win a WTA title after a while. Despite finishing the past two seasons inside the top 10, the Greek has lost five consecutive finals and hasn’t raised a trophy since May 2019. Two more obstacles await the 27-year-old this week, the first of them being Petra Martic. Who do you think will reach the final?
WTA Linz Semifinal Predictions
Marketa Vondrousova vs Anastasia Potapova
Head-to-head: Vondrousova 2-0
Marketa Vondrousova continues her journey back to the top of the game and she’s done very well this week so far, dropping just eight games in two completed matches. On Friday, Dalma Galfi retired 1-4 down against her. Anastasia Potapova’s path to the semifinals has been much more eventful as all her showings on the court have been recently (six consecutive three-setters).
The Russian played Anna-Lena Friedsam in the quarterfinals and for a long while, she was really struggling to hit through the consistent opponent. Vondrousova is expected to execute a similar gameplan even better and her heavy lefty spins will make it tough for Potapova to keep her error count moderately low.
Prediction: Vondrousova in 3
Maria Sakkari vs Petra Martic
Head-to-head: Sakkari 2-0
Maria Sakkari owns two head-to-head wins over Petra Martic, one of them just over a month ago at the United Cup. The Greek has played extremely well in patches this year and scored a massive win over Donna Vekic in the quarterfinals here. While she did fall into trouble from 6-3 5-3 up, she was able to pick herself up quickly and saved five set points to end that affair in straights.
Martic will not be an easy rival at all. The Croat has so much variety and a nice serve that gets plenty of boost indoors. Her match against Alison van Uytvanck this week was a thriller than included plenty of ridiculous shotmaking. Sakkari deserves to be the favorite as she’s already saved this riddle twice (once so recently), but she should be seriously tested here.
Prediction: Sakkari in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
