Friday is semi-finals day in Wuhan for this Premier 5 event.  I’d probably give Petra the edge with the four players remaining, but like Tokyo, it remains wide open at the business end.  Qualifying for the fourth and final Premier Mandatory event in Beijing will also kick off on Friday.  Draw previews for Beijing will be up this weekend including the ATP event.

1. Eugenie Bouchard v Caroline Wozniacki (Wuhan, SF)

In a first ever career match-up, Caroline Wozniacki and Eugenie Bouchard will meet in the semi-finals of Wuhan.  The pair were projected to meet in the third round of Montreal this year, but Bouchard lost to Shelby Rogers.   Bouchard reached the semis with a 6-3 7-5 victory over Alize Cornet.  Bouchard led *5-2 in the second set, twice wasting an opportunity to serve out the match.  Cornet got it back to *5-5, but was broken to love.  Bouchard served out the victory at the third time of asking.  It has been an excellent week for Bouchard so far, which has boosted her hopes of qualifying for the YEC in Singapore.

Bouchard though, has yet to face anyone of Wozniacki’s calibre and staying power.  Wozniacki needed three sets to get past the inspired qualifier, Timea Bacsinszky.  The prospect of Wozniacki-Bouchard is fascinating because there is no previous match-up data to base any judgements on.  Bouchard probably has the slight edge in terms of aggression, but then I would expect Wozniacki to be the more consistent player.  Wozniacki has played a lot of tennis in the last week and Bouchard will be the fresher of the pair.  Caroline though has won a lot of matches in the last two months and I think if this is a lengthy affair, she will have the confidence to secure the win.

Prediction: Wozniacki d. Bouchard in 3 sets

2. Petra Kvitova v Elina Svitolina (Wuhan, SF)

In terms of Petra performances, her quarter-final victory over Caroline Garcia was pretty perfect.  Kvitova wasn’t broken on serve, winning 71% of points on serve throughout the 81 minute contest.  Garcia was a dangerous opponent, but Kvitova was clinical today.  Kvitova next plays Elina Svitolina, who took out Angelique Kerber, 6-4 7-6(3).  This was a surprising result because Kerber had beaten Svitolina in straight sets in Tokyo.  Kerber also had the ascendancy in the second set as she served for the set at *5-4.

Svitolina has posted some very solid results this year including a quarter-final appearance at Cincy, a last 16 showing at Miami and winning a second WTA title in Baku.  In their only previous match, Svitolina defeated Kvitova in Cincy, 6-2 7-6(2).  It was a horrible match and one of Petra’s worst performances of the year.  Svitolina will be ready and waiting to sweep up if Petra has another shocker, but she has played very well so far this week and if she brings that form into this match, she should have the beating of Svitolina.

Prediction: Kvitova d. Svitolina in 2 sets