For the first weekend of the 2015 grass court season, we have a potentially awesome final to look forward to with Camila Giorgi and Belinda Bencic to play in ‘s-Hertogenbosch on Sunday. In a real rarity, I picked both finalists at the start of the week! In the first of the semi-finals, Bencic defeated Jelena Jankovic in straight sets, 6-3 6-3 in one hour and 27 minutes. It was a solid performance from Bencic who looked the much more comfortable player on the grass. Jankovic looked unsteady and slipped during the first set. The TennisTV commentator, Vladka Uhlirova had mentioned that Jankovic had slipped in the same area of the court in her quarter-final match against Annika Beck as well. Bencic needed just the one break of serve in the first set and saved break points in two of her service games. Bencic saved two break points trying to serve out the opening set but played extremely well on the key points.

Bencic started to wobble a little in the second set after losing an early break but she rebroke immediately and then held from 15-40 down to go up 5-3 and effectively seal the victory. Bencic served well today and the placement of her first serve was decent. However, her second serve remains vulnerable and Jankovic did not do enough on those points. Both players will be in Birmingham next week with Jankovic taking a late wildcard into the draw. After not winning a match on grass in 2014, Jankovic should be content with three victories in Holland despite a sub-par performance in this match.

Camila Giorgi booked her place in the final with her best performance of the week, beating Kiki Bertens, 6-2 6-4. In Giorgi’s quarter-final on Friday against Yaroslava Shvedova, she served up a whopping 23 double faults… that’s nearly a whole set of double faults! Still, Giorgi saved three match points and prevailed against Shvedova in the third set tiebreak, 11 points to 9. While it’s evident that Giorgi doesn’t own a second serve, she still won 36% of second serve points. In Saturday’s semi-final, Giorgi served just four double faults and took advantage of some serving lapses from Bertens. The Dutch player looked frustrated throughout as she struggled to adapt to Giorgi’s quick game. In what would turn out to be the final game of the match, Bertens served four double faults including one on match point.

Giorgi and Bencic will both be gunning for a first ever WTA title which adds another interesting dimension to this match. Giorgi has played three finals, losing then all (two in Katowice and one in Linz). After losing to Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in the final of Katowice earlier this year, Giorgi followed it up by losing her next four matches. Bencic has played one final at the back end of 2014, losing out in straight sets to Alison Riske in Tianjin, 6-3 6-4. This has been Bencic’s best week of the year and the grass suits her game well. Giorgi will bring her predictable all-or-nothing game to the court. If it’s more hit than miss, then Giorgi has the upper edge. However, if Bencic can hang with Giorgi for long enough, then she could plant a seed of doubt in her Italian opponent’s mind with her record in finals not exactly beaming. I’m staying true to my original prediction and sticking by Bencic to claim her first WTA title. Hoping for a fun match…

Prediction: Bencic d. Giorgi in 3 sets