The quarterfinal action at the 2019 WTA Guangzhou Open will be play out on Thursday, September 19 as some of the top players will take to court for the last-eight stage. Latest Sofia Kenin v Jasmine Paolini & Marie Bouzkova v Anna Blinkova tips and predictions with their previews along with others can be found below.
Get the best odds for WTA Korea Open 2019 with 888Sport here.[the_ad_group id=”1639″]
*Geo-restrictions apply & pre-funded account needed
Sofia Kenin v Jasmine Paolini Preview
Sofia Kenin is the highest-ranked player left in the draw, after she defeated wildcard entrant Katarina Zavatska 6-4, 6-2 and she will now be up against be Jasmine Paolini. Paolini, an Italian qualifier also made it through to the last-eight after overcoming Zheng Saisai 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 in a tight contest.
These two have played once before this, in Rome earlier this year in the opening round and Kenin had won that one in straight sets. That was on clay, which is Paolini’s most preferred surface and she has a 33-12 win-loss record on it this year. On hard court surfaces, however, the Italian has played just nine matches this year and lost four.
All of this points to a straightforward match for Kenin who should overpower her opponent in straight sets.
Tip: Kenin to win in straight sets: 1/3 (Unibet)
Marie Bouzkova v Anna Blinkova Preview
When the 63rd-ranked Marie Bouzkova takes on the 76th-ranked Anna Blinkova, having never faced each other before this, it does become a hard call to make. Blinkova, interesting is the slight favourite here, 17/20 to the 1/1 for a Bouzkova victory, despite the obvious difference in the rankings.
Blinkova is on a roll obviously. Since losing her opener at the US Open to Naomi Osaka, she has won seven matches in a row including the title victory at New Haven and the first two rounds here. In doing so she has dropped just two sets and in this kind of form one can expect her to come through against any of the opponents in her vicinity, rankings-wise.
It’s not like Bouzkova’s story is too different. There was a first round loss at the US Open for her too but immediately before that she had made the semi-final at Toronto, and has now sent Elina Svitolina packing. Sure, Svitolina was struggling with a fitness issue but to come through against the world number three would give her a lot of confidence.
We will keep away from a result prediction and go for this being a three-setter.
Tip: Three sets in the match: 11/8 (Unibet)
Also Read:
Shuai Zhang v Viktorija Golubic Preview
The 34th-ranked Shuai Zhang will take on the 73rd-ranked Viktorija Golubic in her quarter-final on Thursday in what will be their third meeting. It’s 1-1 on head to head for now what with their previous meeting having come as recently as the US Open earlier this year. Zhang was a 6-2, 6-1 winner over Golubic in that first round match and truth be told she will start a favourite here too.
Unfortunately for Zhang, that result in the US Open, where she made the third round, was her best on hard court surfaces this year since the Australian Open third round appearance earlier in the season. Golubic has a far superior win-loss ratio on this surface but lot of those matches have come at either qualifiers or a lower-level tournament.
Zhang, as a result will enter the match knowing she is the higher-ranked player but is up against a confident one on this surface. The same cannot be said about Zhang and a surprise might be in the offing.
Tip: Golubic to win: 17/10 (Unibet)
Samantha Stosur v Nina Stojanovic Preview
This is an interesting one. On the one side is the Aussie world number 129 and a former US Open winner, Samantha Stosur whose recent struggles have been so monumental, she has lost more matches than she has won for the second season in running.
On the other, Nina Stojanovic is 110th in the world, but that’s her best ranking ever and she is improving with tournaments. In 2019 itself, counting the lower-level tournaments and qualifiers, she has a 12-5 win-loss record and while that cannot be a true indicator of a player’s form, she has shown what she is capable of.
For instance, this is the second time that Stojanovic is taking on Stosur in as many weeks and had won their previous meeting too – crushing her in straight sets. And that’s exactly what you can expect her to do yet again, win quite easily.
Tip: Stojanovic to win: 10/11 (Unibet)