Today’s most uplifting news was that Juan Martin del Potro has confirmed that he will be playing Sydney and the Australian Open.  It’s great news although i’m still a bit concerned about how his wrists holds up and it sounds like he is still not 100% from his Facebook post.  Thursday is quarter-finals day in both Auckland and Shenzhen.  The most intriguing match of the day once again features the number one seed in Auckland.

1. Caroline Wozniacki v Julia Goerges (WTA Auckland, QF)

Caroline Wozniacki will take on Julia Goerges in the quarter-finals of the ASB Classic in Auckland with the pair tied at 3-3 in their head-to-head.  Wozniacki defeated Taylor Townsend in the second round, coming from *2-5 down in the second set and saving three set points.  Wozniacki was up a set and break before Townsend really found her mojo and won four straight games.  Townsend demonstrated why she is so highly thought of with some lovely touch at the net.  However, this match also showed some of the areas she needs to work on.  Against someone of Wozniacki’s consistency, Townsend struggled with her patience in the longer rallies.  This will be a match that Taylor should learn a lot from, especially trying to close out the second set.  Wozniacki was solid again; her forehand lacked depth at times and she was happy to sit back when Townsend was making errors and struggling to find the court.  Her mentality was impressive as she fought off set points and played a clean tiebreaker, finishing with a booming ace down the tee.

Goerges has made a great start to the year winning both her matches in straight sets against Anna Tatishvili (6-1 6-4) and Lucie Hradecka (6-3 7-5).  Perhaps great is overselling it, but with someone of Goerges’s inconsistency, this is an accomplishment.  The German player has some huge strokes, but has rarely been able to put it all together, Stuttgart aside.  In that magnificent run to the title in 2011, Goerges defeated Wozniacki in the final of the clay court event.  She also went on to beat the Dane a further two times in Madrid (6-4 1-6 6-3, 2011) and Dubai (7-6 7-5, 2012).  Wozniacki snapped the three match losing streak to Goerges in Sydney last year but even then, she was teetering on the edge and needed three sets.  I’d fancy Goerges to win a set because she can be lethal when’s she feeling the ball, but Wozniacki’s restored confidence on court should be enough to help her over the finishing line.

Prediction: Wozniacki d. Goerges in 3 sets

WTA Auckland Quarter-Final Predictions

Barbora Zahlavova Strycova d. Coco Vandeweghe in 3 sets

Venus Williams d. Elena Vesnina in 2 sets (1 tight, 1 easy)

Urszula Radwanska d. Lauren Davis in 3 sets

WTA Shenzhen Quarter-Final Predictions

Zarina Diyas d. Saisai Zheng in 3 sets

Simona Halep d. Aleksandra Krunic in 2 sets

Petra Kvitova d. Tereza Smitkova in 2 sets

Timea Bacsinszky d. Vera Zvonareva in 3 sets