The 2015 Family Circle Cup has been dominated by upsets with 7 of the 16 seeds falling before the third round.  At the start of the week, it would have been a safe bet that Angelique Kerber would have been one of those seeds falling early.  Since Melbourne, Kerber had won just two WTA main draw matches. The German player teetered on the edge at times in her second rounder against Evgeniya Rodina, but came back from a set and a break down to prevail, 3-6 6-3 6-4.  Rodina played some awesome tennis in the first set and a half, nailing winners from all over the court.  It was a high quality match and Kerber did extremely well to come through considering her recent results.  She carried the momentum into her third rounder against Lara Arruabarrena to record back-to-back wins on tour for the first time since Sydney.  In a draw that has developed some cavernous holes, Kerber has big opportunities of going deeper and stabilising her year.

In the quarter-finals, Kerber will face the number 13 seed, Irina-Camelia Begu.  The pair played earlier this year in Melbourne where Begu caused a notable upset in the first round with a 6-4 0-6 6-1 win.  I put my hands up… i’ve been pretty mean to Begu in my predictions this year.  I still do a bit of a double take when I see Begu at number 36 in the rankings.  Looking more closely at her results, a final appearance in Moscow and a semi-final showing in Oeiras have been nicely cushioned by some excellent results on the ITF tour.  Like many WTA players, Begu’s A-game is impressive, but she can be very erratic.  Since reaching the last 16 of a Grand Slam for the first time at the Australian Open, Begu has done reasonably well.  She reached the semi-finals of Rio losing to Anna Schmiedlova (where she picked up an injury) and the third round of Miami where she went out to Agnieszka Radwanska in three sets.  In Charleston, Begu has had two wins over Laura Siegemund (6-2 7-6) and Yaroslava Shvedova (6-0 6-7 6-4), and a walkover from Ekaterina Makarova.

Kerber will know the dangers and pitfalls of playing someone like Begu who can catch a hot streak and hit her off the court.  I think it will be a little like her first match against Rodina.  It’s too early to say whether Kerber has righted the ship after two victories, but she should be able to take on this match with a spring in her step.  This match will be a big deal for both players; Kerber still needs the wins to restore confidence and Begu hasn’t played many quarter-finals at Premier events.  I’m going for Angie…

Prediction: Kerber d. Begu in 3 sets

Photo in this post by Jimmie48 Tennis Photography