Some figured there was no way Iga Swiatek would lose at her home event at the WTA Warsaw Open, but the Pole was kicked out of the tournament through an absolutely stunning returning display from Caroline Garcia. Can the Frenchwoman ride that momentum and take the title or will it be the WTA Tour final debutant Ana Bogdan clinching the trophy? Who do you think will prevail?
WTA Warsaw Final
Caroline Garcia vs Ana Bogdan
Head-to-head: Garcia 1-0 Bogdan
An in-form Caroline Garcia is among the best of the best and she is showing that once again. While it’s very hard to compare what the Frenchwoman is doing right now to her famous Wuhan/Beijing fortnight in 2017 (different surfaces, caliber of opposition), the 28-year-old has gone 17-3 since winning the title at Bad Homburg last month. Ana Bogdan wasn’t really having a similar run of form, but took advantage of the draw opening up with plenty of withdrawals and wasted no time getting into the final without dropping a set.
Garcia’s aforementioned returning has been the story of the week. While against Misaki Doi she would frame everything and not benefit from standing inside the baseline even to return her first serve, the gamble started progressively paying off more and more as the week went on. It didn’t matter if it was the serve of Elisabetta Cocciaretto, Jasmine Paolini, or the World No. 1 – Garcia would just eat it all up and turn it into return winners or big blows at the opponents’ feet.
The 28-year-old just forces her rivals to play the match on her terms. Compared to other power-oriented players, she’s also very capable of surviving a longer rally. Bogdan has done fine this week, but if Garcia maintains her level from the previous two matches, she really should take the title home. Especially as compared to the Romanian, she’s had plenty of experience in WTA Tour finals, winning eight of them and as mentioned before, not only at the WTA 250 level.
Prediction: Garcia in 2
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
