The third round of matches in Birmingham gets underway Wednesday. Heather Watson is now the last Brit standing and carries the hopes of a second home trophy in as many weeks squarely on her shoulders. We take a look at how she and the others in action should fare in our WTA Birmingham Classic day 3 predictions.
WTA Birmingham Classic Day 3 Predictions
Caroline Garcia vs Marie Bouzkova
Head-to-head:
Caroline Garcia did well to overcome a slow start and secure a first round win against Harriet Dart. The French woman has all the tools to excel on grass but still struggles for consistency. She faces a solid and talented opponent in Marie Bouzkova in the second round. The Czech did well to get past the awkward Su-Wei Hsieh in her first match and continues to look like a star of the future. Garcia is probably the better player of the two and, if her serve holds up, she should come through this potentially entertaining match.
Prediction: Garcia in 3
Coco Vandeweghe vs Ajla Tomljanovic
Head-to-head:
Ajla Tomljanovic did incredibly well to upset top seed Elise Mertens and advance to the second round. Her reward is a much more winnable match against American Coco Vandeweghe. Vandeweghe is still trying to find the game that saw her rise so rapidly up the ranks on the WTA tour years ago. However, she hasn’t looked the same player and her once lethal forehand is now only available to her in short bursts. Tomljanovic should have the edge here, particularly given the confidence her win against Mertens will give her. Her flat groundstrokes suit the grass well and the Aussie could well be in for a great week in Birmingham.
Prediction: Tomljanovic in 2
Donna Vekic vs Camilla Giorgi
Head-to-head:
Donna Vekic took care of business against home favorite Francesca Jones in her first round match. The Croat looked the part in the win and will ne hopeful of a good run here to gain some much needed form before Wimbledon. However, Camilla Giorgi is no easy out and will certainly have something to say about that. The Italian has a huge game and can hit almost anyone off the court when she is firing. She is hard to watch when she isn’t though and may struggle against a player as solid and consistent as Vekic can be. This is a toss up as far as I’m concerned, but I’ll give the edge to Vekic as she is more solid overall.
Prediction: Vekic in 3
Heather Watson vs Shuai Zhang
Head-to-head:
Watson did well to rally against Viktorija Golubic in her first match of this tournament. The Brit picked her level up spectacularly in the second two sets and looked something close to her best. If that trend continues she could well be a dark horse to lift the title here. However, she must first navigate Chinese player Shuai Zhang. Zhang picked up a much needed win over Vitalia Diatchenko last round. Watson is certainly a greater calibre of opponent and Zhang will likely need to play at a higher level to come through. I can’t see that happening so I’m taking Watson to advance here.
Prediction: Watson in 2
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