The 2019 Tianjin Open semi-finals will be played on Saturday, October 12 and what’s interesting to see is all the seeded players have been bundled out. Here’s Veronika Kudermetova v Heather Watson & Ons Jabeur v Rebecca Peterson Tips, previews and predictions for the day.
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Veronika Kudermetova v Heather Watson Predictions & Preview
In what will be the first meeting between Veronika Kudermetova and Heather Watson, they meet in the semi-final at Tianjin. And as you would expect from a semi-final lineup that has only unseeded players, this is a surprise match-up.
Well, Kudermetova has shown enough form in recent times to deserve that place in the last-four, but her rasping form has seen her drop not a single set so far. She has beaten Ajla Tomljanovic, Saisai Zheng and Dayana Yastremska with the last of those wins especially expected to boost her confidence.
She was a 6-4, 6-0 winner over Yastremska, a player ranked in the top 25. And with a win-loss record of 26-11 on hard court surfaces this year with that victory in the quarter-final, 22-year-old Russian will be looking like a heavy favourite against Heather Watson.
Watson’s 125th in the world but is bound to improve on her rankings after this showing. She had already sent out Wang Qiang in an upset win in the second round and followed that up with a thriller against Magda Linette. Linette was leading 4-1 in the final set but Watson showed remarkable composure to come back and win the set and match in a tie-breaker and make it to her second WTA semifinal in four tournaments.
Before these two, she had barely managed to win anything in the WTA main draws.
Kudermetova will be a favourite here with Watson expected to give her a run for her money.
Tip: Kudermetova to win in three sets: 10/3 with Unibet
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Ons Jabeur v Rebecca Peterson Predictions & Preview
The second semi-final of the Tianjin Open will have Ona Jabeur take on Rebecca Peterson and as far as their respective rankings are concerned, one wouldn’t find a closer match. Jabeur is ranked 61st in the world and Peterson is just two spots ahead at 59th, and in their only previous meeting on clay, Peterson had won last year.
That said, Peterson’s record on hard court surfaces this season has been way better than her opponent. She is 23-12 on win-loss while Jabeur starts off at 14-15, and had it not been for the three wins so far in this tournament, she would have been staring down a barrel this season.
Which is why these three, straight-set wins have been bizarre to say the least from Jabeur, especially against Yulia Putintseva, who was a strong favourite going into the match. Peterson was stretched to a third set by Wang Yafan but she has also come off a shock win over Venus Williams in the opening round.
Peterson will still hold the edge in this one but again, it might not be as straightforward a win.
Tip: Peterson to win in three sets: 10/3 with Unibet
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