Tianjin
Zheng Saisai vs. [6] Alison Riske
Personally, I think this will be a hard matchup to call, mainly because these are two players looking to make their first WTA final, with this being Zheng's first WTA semifinal as well. The two players have met once last year at Melbourne, but this week Zheng has been able to show that she is a much smarter and more crafty player by constantly mixing up her shots with the wonderful variety which she has. In this matchup, Zheng not only has the backing of the crowd, but she also has a lot of confidence beating 3 quality players this week. Riske expectedly, has come through this draw reasonably unscathed, but Zheng should be able to capitalise on Riske's unforced errors and really try to create some opportunities for herself. I am also very excited that Zheng will be playing in the Rising Stars exhibition at the WTA Finals this year!
Prediction: Zheng wins 2-1
[3] Belinda Bencic vs. [2] Peng Shuai
With this kind matchup, I would normally consider the players past H2H, but this week, both these two have not played well at all. Against her match against Hsieh, Bencic completely lost the plot in the second set before being able to find her form again in the third, whereas Peng has been playing completely defensive tennis and waiting for her opponents unforced errors, rather than dictating play herself. When Peng finds the perfect balance between aggression and defence, she will be able to win against Bencic but it won't be so easy this time. Nonetheless, in spite of all this Peng has been able to keep mentally strong and come out of the past 3 matches with wins in her hometown tournament, however scrappy, and I would think she would be able to come through this one as well in the end.
Prediction: Peng wins 2-1
Osaka
[5] Zarina Diyas vs. Luksika Kumkhum
Kumkhum as been a very lucky player this week. Since the US Open, she has not played well at all and the retirement of Keys, along with two extremely scrappy wins have helped her get to where she is now. On the other hand, Diyas has been showing these few weeks that she is one to watch, having also made it into WTA Rising Star exhibition, playing some fantastic tennis, with a 4th round showing at Wimbledon and a 3rd round showing at the US Open. Even though Kumkhum leads 2-0 in the H2H, I would expect that Diyas should be able to win this match quite handily, as she has been playing solid, consistent tennis, making it to her first ever WTA final.
Prediction: Diyas wins 2-0
[1] Samantha Stosur vs. [3] Elina Svitolina
Having not played well at all this season, Stosur really has finally started to show some form in the Asian swing, making the semis of Beijing, in addition to the semis here in Osaka. Having said that though, Stosur has been reasonably lucky with her draw, in addition to Gajdosova having to pull out of the tournament, which I would have thought where Stosur would be upset. In her last match, Stosur played quite badly in the first few games against Puntintseva, and this is something which Svitolina should be able to capitalise on. Svitolina is a two time WTA titlist, having won a title this year at Baku and making it to the semis at Wuhan, and she should be able to really impose her game on Stosur if she is not playing at her best.
Prediction: Svitolina wins 2-1
Linz
Karin Knapp vs. Camilla Giorgi
Giorgi absolutely took it to Erakovic with her aggressive (and sometimes brainless) ballstriking, whereas Knapp had some difficulty playing against Pironkova, who wasn't really playing that well.
Prediction: Giorgi wins 2-0
[Q] Anna-Lena Friedsam vs. [7] Karolina Pliskova
Honestly, Pliskova has to be extremely tired this week having played deep in so many matches, and their extremely close match in Seoul has me going for Friedsam.
Prediction: Friedsam wins 2-1
And as always, please share this blog and comment below if you agree or disagree with my predictions!
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