The top two seeds went out in Hong Kong, but a number of dangerous contenders remain in contention for the title. Among them are third-seeded Elise Mertens or fifth-seeded Anna Blinkova, but maybe it’s the resurgent Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova or Sara Sorribes Tormo that are the biggest threats? Who do you think will make the final four?
WTA Hong Kong Quarterfinal Predictions
Sara Sorribes Tormo vs Anna Blinkova
Head-to-head: Sorribes Tormo 1-1 Blinkova
Sara Sorribes Tormo returned to her best after a six-month hiatus pretty quickly and even claimed that WTA Tour title in Cleveland as a lucky loser recently. By beating Xinyu Wang in the second round here, she avenged her defeat against the Chinese from the US Open. This match with Anna Blinkova will also be a battle of temperaments with the ultra-consistent Sorribes Tormo and the mercurial Russian. The 25-year-old can be unplayable in patches, but it’s usually just patches.
Prediction: Sorribes Tormo in 3
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Martina Trevisan vs Elise Mertens
Head-to-head: Mertens 1-0 Trevisan
Elise Mertens and Martina Trevisan have already faced off on a hard court this year and the Belgian ended up dropping just two games in Abu Dhabi. Her opponent has actually been producing some decent results on this surface recently though and definitely shouldn’t be thought of as a hardcore clay specialist anymore. Mertens might not be close to her peak, but the edge over Trevisan on hard is probably still there though.
Prediction: Mertens in 2
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Leylah Fernandez vs Linda Fruhvirtova
Head-to-head: first meeting
These two knocked out the 2023 girls’ singles Australian Open finalists, Mirra Andreeva and Alina Korneeva, in the previous round. It’s going to be another battle of youngsters now with neither having a particularly strong season. Linda Fruhvirtova was recently on a long losing streak, but she got something going again during the Asian swing and is now doing well again. She won’t be the favorite here, but it wouldn’t be a shock to see her defeat Leylah Fernandez.
Prediction: Fernandez in 3
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Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Katerina Siniakova
Head-to-head: Pavlyuchenkova 3-1 Siniakova
Katerina Siniakova won their most recent meeting, but that’s still over three years ago. When you’re out for a full season at the age of 31 like Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was, there’s always the possibility that your career at the top level might be over. But the Russian is back with a bang and keep performing at an extremely high standard at least from time to time. She might be the best player left in the field and she should make it to the semis here.
Prediction: Pavlyuchenkova in 2
Main photo credit: Danielle Parhizkaran-USA TODAY Sports
