One of the most important narratives of the 2024 WTA Hua Hin Open was always going to be how the defending champion Zhu Lin handled the pressure of having to back up her result from last year. So far so good. As always, we here at LWOT will be offering our prediction for this match, as well as the final in Linz, but who will come out on top?
WTA Hua Hin Final Prediction
Diana Shnaider vs Zhu Lin
Head-to-head: Shnaider 1-0 Zhu Lin
Diana Shnaider had a very explosive introduction to the main circuit at this time last year, but she took some time off due to her stint at college and seemed to have cooled off a bit. In fact, the Russian arrived at the WTA Hua Hin Open this week with a 0-3 record this year. It has to be said that the standard of opposition she had to take on was very high though and it wasn’t that much of a surprise to see her go deep at this event.
Zhu was able to find by far the best season of her career in 2023, including her maiden WTA Tour title at this very event. With these late breakthroughs you never really know how long they’re going to last and after losing in the opening round of the Australian Open, you could have concerns as to her ability to maintain that patch. The Chinese cleared that up very quickly though with her brilliant performances this week.
Shnaider won their only previous meeting at Ningbo last year 6-4 6-0. Zhu should have a decent chance to exact revenge here, after all she does perform very well at this venue. The 30-year-old is yet to drop a set this week and delivered a breathtaking display to beat Yafan Wang in the semifinals. She’ll need to find that quality again and keep hitting with a lot of controlled aggression to maintain her winning streak in Hua Hin.
Prediction: Zhu in 3
