An eclectic quarter-final roster has been set up at the Internationaux de Strasbourg, in France. The WTA event’s schedule of play on Thursday had a surprise in store even as the seeded players made it through to the round of eight. Here are our WTA Strasbourg Quarterfinals Predictions for Friday:
WTA Strasbourg Quarterfinals Predictions
Daria Gavrilova vs Chloe Paquet
The Australian, whose first round had been pushed to Thursday following Wednesday’s rain interruption, played – and won – two matches on the day to make it to the last eight. Gavrilova won her first round against Latvian Diana Marcinkevica in straight sets 7-5 7-5, and then beat Amandine Hesse in a three-set tussle 4-6 6-2 7-5.
The effort was monumental in more ways than one, too. For this is the only other tournament, except the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, where Gavrilova has won more than one match in the draw (either qualifying or main draw).
Paquet, meanwhile, came through in her second-round match against Chinese qualifier Xinyun Han with a straightforward scoreline of 6-3, 6-3.
This will be the first time Gavrilova and Paquet will play each other. While on paper Gavrilova would go in as the favourite, one does wonder whether the #63’s fatigue will catch up with her against the Frenchwoman.
Prediction: Paquet in 2
Caroline Garcia vs Marta Kostyuk
The fourth seed Garcia, too, had to squeeze in two matches on account of Tuesday’s rain delay and she came through as well, without any problems. However, the road ahead has gotten trickier for the Frenchwoman against the Ukrainian qualifier.
The 16-year-old Kostyuk, who has had to deal with injuries, will be bolstered by her pre-quarter-final result in Strasbourg on Wednesday. The teenager upset the seventh seed Saisai Zheng in straight sets, losing just four games in her 73-minute long 6-, 6-1 win.
This will be the second time the two will play each other. Their previous meeting also came on clay, at the 2018 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. Back then, Garcia claimed the win in three sets, but this time around, Kostyuk looks plumb poised to mount another upset.
Prediction: Kostyuk in 3
Dayana Yastremska vs Fiona Ferro
Fiona Ferro has done a great job getting to this point. She upset #3 seed Qiang Wang with an impressive third-set performance on Thursday. Unfortunately for her, the up-and-coming Ukrainian Yastremska is rounding into tremendous form. Yastremska just obliterated Samantha Stosur 6-0 6-2 in the second round. There’s little reason to think that she can’t do the same against everyone else in the draw.
Prediction: Yastremska in 2
Aryna Sabalenka vs Monica Puig
The second-seeded Belorussian has had a wobbly 2019 season. Against Laura Siegemund, though, the 21-year-old had no problems as she went on to clinch a 6-4 6-3 win to advance through to the quarters.
The woman who would be standing in front of Sabalenka on the other side of the net on Friday, Puig, too, was clinical in her round-of-16 win against Australian qualifier Astra Sharma. The Puerto Rican won 6-3 6-2.
Puig will be a true test of Sabalenka regaining her form. The two played their first match against each other in the Round of 16 in Charleston this year, and Puig won that encounter in straight sets. Will we see Sabalenka avenge that loss? We’ll find out on Thursday.
Prediction: Sabalenka in 3
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
