The 2019 Wuhan Open reaches its business and with the two semi-finals to be played on Friday, September 27 with the action kick-starting with Ash Barty leading the draw. Get the latest Ash Barty v Aryna Sabalenka & Petra Kvitova v Alison Riske tips and predictions with their previews along with other matches can be found below.
Get the best odds for the WTA Wuhan Open 2019 with Unibet here.[the_ad_group id=”1639″]
*Geo-restrictions apply & pre-funded account needed
Ash Barty v Aryna Sabalenka Predictions & Preview
World number one Ash Barty will take on the 14th-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the Wuhan Open semi-final on Friday as the two go hammer and tongs at each other for the fifth time in their careers. Before this, their head to head reads a thrilling 2-2, which includes a 1-1 scoreline on hard court surfaces.
One of these matches came at the Wuhan Open last year when Sabalenka defeated Barty in straight sets en route her title but the Aussie is in a far better shape, form-wise, right now. Sabalenka has exhibited a fine showing so far in the competition to make it this far.
Once ranked ninth in the world, the Belarusian lost her first set of this tournament but came back strongly to polish off Elena Rybakina 6-1 in the final set. This performance, close on the heels of four below-par showings at Toronto, Cincinnati, US Open and Zhengzhou puts her at some sort of an even keel with Barty going into this encounter.
The Aussie top seed had her own worries against Petra Martic, who first took her to a tie-breaker in the first set and then won the second to force a decider. Even in the third set, Martic earned an early break, but Barty held firm and came through 6-3 to set up this semifinal.
Sabalenka will be a tougher opponent for Barty in this semi-final though and we suspect it might not get any easier for the Aussie here. Might even see an upset.
Tip: Sabalenka to win: 11/10 with Unibet
[the_ad id=”16865″]
Petra Kvitova v Alison Riske Predictions & Preview
It will be surprise semi-finalist Alison Riske who will take on Petra Kvitova in the other semi-final. For all practical purposes Elina Svitolina was such a heavy favourite in her quarter-final against Riske that not too many would have imagined the American would come away a 6-1, 6-3 winner over her.
And what that means is that when Kvitova takes on Riske, she would have a lot lesser knowledge about her game than Svitolina, whom she had played nine times and won seven of those. Instead, their only two matches came as long ago as six years ago, and both have won one apiece. Riske is ranked 35th in the world right now, but a performance like this would take her to at least 27th after the new rankings are released.
Kvitova was a 6-2, 6-4 winner over Dayana Yastremska, having gone in as an obvious favourite to run past her opponent in this match. That was, incidentally, Kvitova’s third consecutive straight-set win, having earlier beaten Polona Hercog and Sloane Stephens in the same fashion.
The rhythm looks to have returned for Kvitova and when that happens, she is a different proposition altogether her performance earlier in the year, especially at the Australian Open showed.
Tip: Kvitova to win in straight sets: 10/11 with Unibet