The bottom half of the Hong Kong draw has gone completely with seeding as the two highest seeds, Angelique Kerber and Sam Stosur have progressed through to the semi-finals. Kerber is inching closer to the WTA Finals in Singapore but still must win the tournament in Hong Kong to confirm qualification. Kerber played welll to defeat Caroline Garcia, 7-5 6-3 in the quarter-finals. Kerber won the last five games of the match, recovering from a 1-3 second set deficit and pulling through a seven-deuce final game on her fourth match point. Garcia was in control of the rally of the match point but yet another accurate pass by Kerber sealed the win.
Stosur dropped her first set of the tournament to Heather Watson and came back from 4-6 1-3 down to win the last 11 (!) games of the match. Watson has failed to push on since that superb performance at Wimbledon where she nearly defeated Serena Williams in the third round. Watson has won just three WTA main draw matches since Wimbledon. Stosur’s year hasn’t been anything to write home about but she’s bagged two titles and will most likely finish in the world’s top 30.
Stosur leads Kerber, 3-2 in their head-to-head. Like the Stosur-Petkovic match-up, many of their encounters have come in Fed Cup action. Stosur won their last encounter in Madrid, a brutal first round match-up, 4-6 6-3 6-3. I could see this one going the distance and being a really hard fought match. Kerber’s thrown in a few duff performances over the Asian Swing but on the whole, she has been solid.
Kerber for the win…
Prediction: Kerber d. Stosur in 3 sets
Moo's Tennis Blog 