The rain hasn’t been too kind to the organizers of the 2023 WTA German Open in Berlin, but the event is likely to be back on track after Wednesday. Aside from two resumptions, six singles main draw matches are on the schedule. In one of them, Elena Rybakina takes on Donna Vekic. Can the 2022 Wimbledon champion advance to the quarterfinals? We also look at Wednesday’s other three matches in a separate article.
Editor’s Note: Some of these matches are holdovers from a rainy Day 2, but we decided to have another writer give their thoughts on all of them.
WTA Berlin Day 3 Predictions
Veronika Kudermetova vs Qinwen Zheng
Head-to-head: 1-1
The two have already met a couple of times in some very high-profile matches: WTA 500 Tokyo semifinal, WTA 1000 Rome quarterfinal. They’ve split their encounters with both of them being very tense and open until the very end. Here there might actually be a decent edge towards one of the players and it’s Veronika Kudermetova. Despite Qinwen Zheng’s huge serve, she does not have the grass-court pedigree of her opponent (Hertogenbosch finalist last week) and could end up being rushed here.
Prediction: Kudermetova in 3
Caroline Garcia vs Jaimee Fourlis
Head-to-head: First meeting
The grass season of 2022 was more or less when Caroline Garcia started producing her peak level again, although she actually didn’t appear in Berlin. Twelve months later she’s still flying high, although has definitely slowed down compared to that sort of form. Jaimee Fourlis has plenty of grass experience growing up in Australia, but it could be hard for her stop the Frenchwoman, whose playstyle with a huge serve and an-all court game fits grass nicely.
Prediction: Garcia in 2
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Elena Rybakina vs Donna Vekic
Head-to-head: Rybakina 1-0
Donna Vekic shouldn’t be overlooked here as she’s a phenomenal grass player with a title in Nottingham in 2017 and a final in Birmingham four years earlier. The Croat is really agressive and looks to takes the ball early, which always makes you a formidable foe on this surface. Elena Rybakina won Wimbledon last year though and it feels like she’s perhaps even more powerful than Vekic. Her weight of shot should help her take control in the rallies here and that should be the key in a match like this.
Prediction: Rybakina in 3
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
