Just eight women remain in the WTA St Petersburg Ladies Trophy. Among them is top seed Maria Sakkari who looks favourite to win as things stand. However, top players such as Anett Kontaveit and Elise Mertens might have something to say about that in the coming days. As ever, we take a look at who should move on to the next day of action in this set of WTA St Petersburg predictions.
WTA St Petersburg Ladies Trophy Quarterfinal Predictions
Tereza Martincova vs Irina-Camelia Begu
Head-to-head: 1 – 0 Martincova
Begu played a superb match to dismiss Kvitova in the last round. However, she also benefitted from Kvitova misfiring and hitting errors, something we’ve seen all too often in recent months. Begu won’t have as many easy points to feast on against Martincova. The Czech is in the form of her life and looks to be a legitimate top fifty player at the very least. She has more power than Begu and should be able to edge this if she can play with good margin and limit her errors effectively.
Predictions: Martincova in 3
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Jelena Ostapenko vs Aliaksandra Sasnovich
Head-to-head: 3 – 0 Ostapenko
Sasnovich is a fine player in good form. However, Ostapenko is a better player and also in very good form. She has effortless power that can blow anyone off the court and is looking closer than ever to the form that saw her win Roland Garros in 2017. If she carries on at the level she has played at so far this week she should win this match comfortably.
Predictions: Ostapenko in 2
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Anett Kontaviet vs Belinda Bencic
Head-to-head: 2 – 1 Kontaveit
Bencic has never beaten Kontaveit in a full match, benefitting from the Estonian’s retirement to claim her only win. However, Bencic at her best has the tennis to take on anyone and win. She has played well in big moments so far this week, winning two tiebreak sets to close out her last two matches. That’s a good sign that she is returning to her best and playing with confidence. That bodes well for a win here and I think she will do just that.
Predictions: Bencic in 3
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Maria Sakkari vs Elise Mertens
Head-to-head: 3 – 2 Mertens
On paper this looks like a close match, but I don’t think it will be. Mertens looked shaky at times against Martic in her last match while Sakkari has looked dominant all week. The Greek is long overdue a title given the level she has played at over the last 12 months. Therefore, I expect her to dominate her and be a strong runner to appear in the final and even lift the trophy come Sunday.
Predictions: Sakkar in 2
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