But before I start on my predictions, I just wanted to say that I will be covering the WTA 125K tournaments this year, so it will be quite interesting to see who comes through, especially with a lot of older veterans and rising stars on the current entry lists so far. I will be covering all 3 events at the end of this year (Ningbo, Taipei & Limoges), possibly as well as any larger ITFs at the end of the year (if they are in fact streamed), such as Poitiers, Dubai and Toyota. Another interesting few events at the end of this year are also the Australian Open Wildcard tournaments, which happen both in Shenzhen for the Asian players, and Melbourne for the Australians, so all in all, hopefully I will still have a lot to cover for the rest of the year, especially with players fighting to get into the main draw of the Australian Open in 2015!
Since it will be the holiday season down here in Australia, I will also have the time to talk about specific players who I think have by far and large flown under the radar such as Saisai Zheng and Anna-Lena Friedsam, who are some of my favourite players. So hopefully I will also be able to post a few articles as well on these players, whilst the tour goes off on its offseason. Naturally, I'll also be covering both year end championships in Singapore and Sofia, as well as now, trying to post at least a few times a week, possibly even daily!
So here are my predictions:
Moscow
Ajla Tomjlanovic vs. [4] Lucie Safarova
Safarova had a pretty mediocre Asian swing, losing early to Lisicki in Wuhan, before losing out to Serena in 3 sets in Beijing (who then withdrew from the next match). However, she did manage to reach the quarterfinals of the event in Tokyo, losing to the eventual champion Ana Ivanovic. This will also be the last event for her, as she cannot qualify for any of the Year End Championships and I would be keen to see her go out of 2014 on a positive note here. Similarly, Ajla really has not played well at all, with her last singles main draw win before Tianjin being at Quebec City. Her win over Panova was rather lengthy and I don't expect Ajla to be much of a challenge for Safarova, considering how poorly she has been playing. Whilst Tomjlanovic is able to hit the ball with a lot of pace, she is rather prone to losing matches due to her mentality on court and I also expect Safarova to be able to match the pace of which Ajla will be playing with.
Prediction: Safarova wins 2-0
Luxembourg
Kiki Bertens vs. [2] Alize Cornet
Alize Cornet has had quite a strong showing at this end of the season, reaching the finals of Guangzhou in the extreme heat, and the quarterfinals of Wuhan, as well as committing to both Sofia and Limoges after Moscow. This current confidence she possesses with her recent successes as well as her big weapons should help her overcome Bertens reasonably comfortably. Bertens had a tough win over Friedsam in the first round, but Cornet will definitely be more punishing of any opportunities she gets. Their H2H currently stands at 1-0 and I would be expecting this trend to continue with a comfortable win for Cornet this round.
Prediction: Cornet wins 2-0.
As always, please like or share this blog or comment below if you agree or disagree with my predictions!
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