Second-round action at the WTA Berlin Ladies Open continues on Thursday as the Top 5 get their campaigns underway. Three of those women are covered in this article, while Aryna Sabalenka’s match against Daria Kasatkina is in a separate article. Who will reach the quarterfinal?
WTA Berlin Day 4 Predictions
Elena Rybakina vs Veronika Kudermetova
Head-to-head: Rybakina 4-0 Kudermetova
Rybakina can complete the set against Kudermetova here. She’s beaten her on clay and hard courts in their previous meetings. This will be their first official bout on grass. The Russian has the weaponry to pose a challenge to Rybakina, but she’s been inconsistent all year, and not even a first-round upset win over Liudmila Samsonova is sufficient to convince me she’ll take down the Kazakhstani.
Prediction: Rybakina in 2
Jessica Pegula vs Donna Vekic
Head-to-head: Pegula 1-0 Vekic
Pegula defeated Vekic in their only previous head-to-head match at Wimbledon two years ago. The American has been a Top 10 mainstay for a while, but she is teetering on exiting that elite coterie in the coming months if she cannot string wins together. It is pertinent to note that Pegula missed the entire European clay-court swing because of injury. Known as one of the most durable athletes on tour, it’s frustrating that injuries might jeopardize the 30-year-old’s ambitions of breaking that quarterfinal barrier at a Grand Slam. Still, I favor Pegula’s baseline discipline in overcoming the Croat in this match, but it could go either way.
Prediction: Pegula in 3
Linda Noskova vs Ons Jabeur
Head-to-head: Noskova 1-1 Jabeur
It’s Wimbledon or nothing for Ons Jabeur. Her ambitions were pretty clear after she withdrew from the Olympics ahead of schedule. The Tunisian secured a solid win over the talented Wang Xinyu in her opening match in Berlin, but she’ll need to polish up her serve, which accounted for four double faults and 48% of second serve points won. Noskova, for her part, upset home player Angelique Kerber in three sets in one of the most exciting matches of the tournament so far. This will be a good test for Jabeur as she’ll do a lot of running here. Noskova tends to go for her shots at every opportunity. Luckily, for the three-time Grand Slam finalist, she’s got an array of shots at her disposal to wreck the young Czech’s rhythm.
Prediction: Jabeur in 2
Coco Gauff vs Ekaterina Alexandrova
Head-to-head: Gauff 2-1 Alexandrova
For the second year in a row, Gauff and Alexandrova will clash in Berlin. The Russian routed the American 6-4 6-0 12 months ago, a result that had a psychological impact on Gauff’s grass-court season. She would lose her opening match at Wimbledon to Sofia Kenin. Alexandrova thrives in these conditions because she’s got that easy power that is often unmanageable. It will take an uber-confident and astute defender to keep her at arm’s length. While Gauff has those attributes, lack of game time on grass so far could haunt her again. Alexandrova has played five matches on the lawns and is better at executing her game plan.
Prediction: Alexandrova in 3
Main Photo Credit: Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports
