Semifinal day at the WTA Strasbourg Open should be an entertaining one with two intriguing matches on the slate. As always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for both semifinals, but who will secure their spot in Saturday’s final?<\/p>\n
Head-to-head:\u00a0<\/strong>first meeting<\/p>\n Although Karolina Pliskova is the top seed this week, it didn’t look very likely that she would make the last four having suffered three back-to-back losses and just two wins to six losses. In fairness, the world #8 hasn\u2019t had the hardest of draws, but that\u2019s exactly what she has needed to regain confidence and get some wins under her belt on historically her worst surface. In her quarterfinal match against Maryna Zanevska, she was particularly impressive in rallying from a break down in the second set twice, as well as facing four set points, and still managing to pull off a straight sets win.<\/p>\n Whilst on paper Kaja Juvan is a beatable semifinal opponent, being ranked just outside the world\u2019s top 80, the Slovakian has been in fine form this week, losing only a handful of games in all three of her matches, albeit against opposition she would be expected to beat. The 21-year-old has yet to make a WTA final and unfortunately for her, playing Pliskova in the early rounds would have been a much better chance for her to beat the Czech. As it stands now Pliskova is looking a lot better than she has in recent months with far more authority behind her shots and, at times, the serve looking like a real weapon. Expect Pliskova to be be too much for the Slovakian to handle.<\/p>\n Prediction: Pliskova in 2
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