Eastbourne Scores – 23 / 35 (66%)
WTA Eastbourne Final Prediction for Saturday
Day 7 – 1/1
Pliskova d. Wozniacki in 3 sets – Thoughts in Friday’s live Set Points post
WTA Eastbourne Final Poll for Saturday
WTA Eastbourne SF Polls for Friday
WTA Eastbourne SF Predictions for Friday
Day 6 – 1/1
Wozniacki d. Watson in 2 sets – The pair are tied at 1-1 in their head-to-head – Watson won their first encounter in Monterrey in 2016, 7-5 6-4 and Wozniacki won their most recent encounter in Hong Kong, 6-3 6-3. Generally, Woz does everything a little bit better but Watson has been inspired this week and been playing wayyy above her ranking. Thursday was a tough day for both, if anyone can deal with rain delays and playing lots of matches then it’s Wozniacki. Going for a tight two setter.
Pliskova d. Konta in 3 sets – A repeat of last year’s Eastbourne semi-final. Pliskova had another clutch win in her quarter-final, winning the last five games vs. Kuznetsova. Konta had a great day beating Ostapenko and Kerber but there is a slight concern over how she reacts that scary looking fall on match point in her quarter-final. Pliskova has won five of their six previous encounters with Konta getting her first ever win over the Czech player in Beijing at the end of last year, 6-1 3-6 7-6(2). Note their last five matches have all gone three sets! Edge for me with Pliskova.
WTA Eastbourne R3 Polls for Thursday
WTA Eastbourne R3 Predictions for Thursday
Day 5 – 4/6
Konta d. Ostapenko in 3 sets – Ostapenko has the groundstrokes to take the time away from Konta and rush her. Whether she’ll have the focus to do it on this occasion with Konta often raising her game at Easty, i’m not so sure. Prove me wrong, Peakpenko!
Wozniacki d. Vesnina in 3 sets – Vesnina on grass is one to watch. She’ll need to play a quality match though to topple a rock-solid, Wozniacki.
Kerber d. Arruabarrena in 2 sets – A huge win for Kerber on Wednesday, gives her a platform to build on. Arruabarrena is having a great week but i’d still stick with Kerber.
Mladenovic d. Kuznetsova in 2 sets – My match of the day (from R3!) and i’d take Mlads – they’ve only played twice but the Frenchwoman has had the early edge in their match-ups and played more on grass so far this year.
Pliskova d. Peng in 2 sets – Peng was great vs. Bacsinszky in the third set. Pliskova though will be another level though and her serve could be the difference.
Pavlyuchenkova d. Watson in 3 sets – Up and down on this one, a very winnable match for Watson. Instinct is that Pavs’s power will prevail.
WTA Eastbourne R2 Polls
WTA Eastbourne R2 Predictions for Tuesday/Wednesday
Day 3/4 – 8/10
Halep d. Duan in 2 sets – Duan is looking decent this week and particularly on grass. I would not be surprised to see the Chinese player get a set or even challenge. Halep’s first match on grass but I think coming to Eastbourne was a positive sign and she’ll be eager for a few good matches.
Kuznetsova d. Barthel in 3 sets – 50-50 for me, been very impressed with Barthel this week. Kuznetsova hasn’t lost her first match at a tournament since Eastbourne 2016 when she held match points against Kateryna Bondarenko.
Kerber d. Kr. Pliskova in 3 sets – Intrigued to see where Kerber’s level is at, she looked OK in practice. Kerber won comfortably in Aus but expect this to be much closer.
Mladenovic d. Zhang Shuai in 2 sets – Rematch from Birmingham, it was a very close match but Mlads raised her level when it counted. Would expect similar although Zhang does seem to be building some confidence.
Pironkova d. Niculescu in 3 sets – A second chance for Pironkova who I thought looked superb in practice on Saturday… but then lost in her final qualifying match. Niculescu finally has that win so should feel some freedom mentally. Head-to-head wise, Niculescu leads 3-2. It’s another difficult one to choose, going with the LL.
Konta d. Cirstea in 3 sets – Konta enjoyed a comfortable win over Cirstea in Fed Cup action earlier this year. It’ll be an interesting one for sure after that dramatic Fed Cup tie. I’d actually give Cirstea a set who was superb against Siniakova and I will guess, will be fired up for this clash.
Wozniacki d. Osaka in 3 sets – Preview
Radwanska d. Davis in 2 sets – Radwanska’s first match in a while having been ill for Nottingham and Birmingham. After a brilliant start to the year, Davis has only won back-to-back matches once since Indian Wells and she completely lost her way in her final qualifying match against Schiavone. She did score a good win over Kucova in the first round as a LL but i’d question whether she has the weapons or consistency to outlast or outpower Radwanska.
Muguruza d. Strycova in 3 sets – A part of me wondered if Muguruza would turn up at Eastbourne but I think she has been spotted! This mostly has been a good match-up for Muguruza who leads it 3-1. Strycova’s lone win came at the Australian Open last year. Instinct says Muguruza, if she is raring to go, will get the win.
Vesnina d. Cepede Royg in 2 sets – Vesnina on grass is one to watch. The Russian player won back-to-back matches at RG for the first time since Indian Wells. Cepede Royg keeps proving me wrong so…
WTA Eastbourne R2 Predictions for Monday
Day 2 – 2/5
Ka. Pliskova d. Riske in 2 sets – This will be the first time the pair have played since last year’s Nottingham final. Pliskova’s first match on grass against someone who loves this surface – I think Pliskova will be clutch and avoid the upset. Riske needed three tries to close out Cornet.
Watson d. Cibulkova in 3 sets – A bit of a risk but i’m not convinced by Cibulkova’s form of late and Watson seems to elevate her level with a home crowd. Beating Tsurenko in a tight three set tussle will have no doubt given her confidence a big boost.
Suarez Navarro d. Ostapenko in 3 sets – Now this should be interesting… Ostapenko should win with her game but I am kind of expecting a bit of a letdown. I underestimated CSN in the first round and she’s been playing pretty well of late without anything spectacular.
Mertens d. Pavlyuchenkova in 2 sets – I’d take the upset in this one, Mertens definitely with a shot. The Belgian player had a good win over Babos (granted Babos in poor form).
Gavrilova d. Arruabarrena in 2 sets – Impressed with Arruabarrena’s run this week as didn’t have her down as a grass courter. I thought Gavrilova looked decent in Brum so going for the Aussie.
WTA Eastbourne R1 Predictions for Monday
Day 2 – 4/7
Kr. Pliskova d. Broady in 3 sets – A big serving battle! Kr. Pliskova leads the H2H, 3-1 and I think she’ll be too strong for Broady despite the home support.
Strycova d. Bouchard in 3 sets – Expecting this to be busy so will probably steer clear! Was going to write a preview but I don’t have time so… the pair are tied at 3-3 in their head-to-head with Bouchard winning their first three clashes and Strycova the last three. Bouchard lost her first match in Mallorca last week to Francesca Schiavone – she’s shown tiny glimpses of great form this year in Sydney and Madrid but it has never been strung together week-by-week with an ankle injury halting her trajectory on clay. Strycova has blown a bit hot and cold this year but remains one to watch on grass. Peak Bouchard will likely prevail, but Strycova has plenty of tricks up her sleeve and has played smart in this match-up before.
Siniakova d. Cirstea in 3 sets – Might try and catch the start of this one, Siniakova’s temperament still concerns me but I feel like she has the game to win this match.
Schiavone d. Peng Shuai in 2 sets – The pair haven’t played since 2011! Schiavone’s had plenty of matches on grass, while this will be Peng’s first. I was impressed with Schiavone vs. Davis today and she has proven before she can play well on the grass.
Duan d. McHale in 3 sets – Not convinced by McHale’s form and I think grass does suit Duan. McHale won their only previous match in Beijing in three sets back in 2015.
Hsieh d. Cepede Royg in 2 sets – Hsieh on grass for the win.
Osaka d. Ozaki in 3 sets – Expecting a bit of a battle, Ozaki is a very solid player and gets a lot of balls back. Osaka will have to play well to get the win.
Zhang Shuai d. Lepchenko in 3 sets – Zhang Shuai seems to be playing a bit better since reaching RG R3. She was going toe-to-toe with Mlads in Brum but just couldn’t live with her in terms of mental toughness.
WTA Eastbourne R1 Predictions for Sunday
Day 1 – 3/5
Makarova d. Suarez Navarro in 3 sets – Thoughts HERE
Watson d. Tsurenko in 3 sets – I think Tsurenko is the better player but Watson does thrive on grass and with a home crowd so I think she’s got a shot.
Lucic-Baroni d. Niculescu in 2 sets – Thoughts HERE
Riske d. Cornet in 2 sets – Thoughts HERE
Mertens d. Babos in 3 sets – Babos has lost her last seven matches, while Mertens is still looking for her first win on grass. I hope Timea can turn it around but not so sure!
R1 Polls for Sunday
Full Draw Predictions
I contemplated not bothering because everyone will likely be cautious ahead of Wimby and also, with the byes and qualifiers not placed. Then I thought oh why not! Normally I do some research around draw picks but this is purely on instinct. I’ve gone for Mladenovic again – it’s happened a few times where my predicted champion wins a tournament in the following weeks so i’ll stick with the Frenchwoman. It’s the week before a Slam so expect to see a lot of red 😂.
R1
Kerber
Kr. Pliskova
Qualifier 1
Gavrilova
Ostapenko
Makarova
Siniakova
Konta
Ka. Pliskova
Riske
Schiavone
Bacsinszky
Mladenovic
Zhang
Konjuh
Kuznetsova
Radwanska
Bellis
Strycova
Muguruza
Pavlyuchenkova
Mertens
Watson
Cibulkova
Wozniacki
Osaka
Hsieh
Vesnina
Kvitova
Lucic-Baroni
Duan
Halep
R2
Kerber
Gavrilova
Makarova
Konta
Ka. Pliskova
Bacsinszky
Mladenovic
Konjuh
Radwanska
Strycova
Mertens
Cibulkova
Wozniacki
Vesnina
Kvitova
Halep
R3
Gavrilova
Makarova
Ka. Pliskova
Mladenovic
Strycova
Mertens
Wozniacki
Halep
QF
Makarova
Mladenovic
Strycova
Wozniacki
SF
Mladenovic
Wozniacki
F
Mladenovic
Export taken from Tennis Draw Challenge predictions
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