WTA Kaohsiung final thoughts
It’s rare to see the top two seeds in the final of an International final… full credit to Venus who I probably would have gone against in the semi-finals! Also impressed by Doi’s results. Early signs are that she has responded well to the loss to Kerber in the first round of the Aus Open from match point up. I remember Lucie’s coach, Rob Steckley saying how after a similar situation a few years ago where Lucie missed a match point against Na Li in the third round of Aus Open (who went onto win) that it actually spurred her on and made her realise how close she was to the best in the world… this is a great opportunity for Doi to prove herself against a great player. I am though leaning towards Venus, probably in three sets.
Oops… missed out the semi-finals!
WTA Kaohsiung QF Predictions for Friday
Doi d. Nara in 2 sets – I had both these players out in R1 haha! The pair have split their four encounters with a different winner each time. Instinct would be Doi and furthermore, I read Nara had a MTO for an injury in her last match.
Kulichkova d. Hsieh in 3 sets – Hsieh leads the H2H, 2-0 including a win in Sydney this year. However, leaning every so slightly to Kulichkova who should be confident following her run in Melbourne and Kaohsiung too.
V.Williams d. Sevastova in 3 sets – I’m not convinced by Venus but then I find it hard to see who will defeat her… Sevastova’s a very capable opponent but not sure i’d be brave enough to give her the nod in this one.
Voegele d. Putintseva in 3 sets – Based on their last three matches which have all gone the distance, this should be another close call. Voegele is on a 7 match winning streak…
WTA Kaohsiung R2 Predictions for Thursday
S,Zheng d. Voegele in 3 sets – On the fence with this one
V.Williams d. U.Radwanska in 2 sets – I was surprised to see Venus turn up in Taiwan but now she’s here, she might as well go all out for the title. Urszula has beaten her before in an epic slugfest at Roland Garros a few years ago but Venus, while still finding her level in 2016, should be too strong
Hsieh d. Minella in 3 sets – Both a little shaky at closing but my instinct (shaky in itself haha) is with Hsieh
Doi d. Linette in 2 sets – After overcoming Kr. Pliskova in R1 which I thought was a potentially tricky match, i’d fancy Doi to win this one too
WTA Kaohsiung R2 Predictions for Wednesday
Kulichkova d. Diyas in 3 sets – Kulichkova won their only previous match and has been in much better form of late
Putintseva d. Kato in 2 sets – Poots the clear favourite to win, interesting to see whether she can keep defeating players ranked below her
Vekic d. Sevastova in 3 sets – Most interesting match of the day for me, do like Sevastova but Vekic can go on randomly super runs at tournaments as she’s dangerous whennnn keeping the ball in court!
Nara d. Zhang in 2 sets – Impressed by how straightforward Nara’s win over Wang was, wavering between 2 and 3 sets on this one
WTA Kaohsiung R1 Predictions for Wednesday
V.Williams d. Lee in 2 sets – When I saw the flight time and time difference between Hawaii and Taiwan, I couldn’t believe Venus was playing this tournament! She has officially arrived and it’s hard to see her being troubled in this particular match
Wang d. Linette in 3 sets – Like Venus, Linette has endured the mega travel between Hawaii and Taiwan
WTA Kaohsiung R1 Predictions for Tuesday
Kulichkova d. Lee in 2 sets – There seems to be renewed optimism for Kulichkova after her run in Melbourne. Still, she can be a very streaky player!
Voegele d. Chang in 3 sets – Voegele won an ITF tournament the week before last so confidence should be high
Hsieh d. Okuno in 2 sets – Hsieh won their only previous encounter last year in straight sets
Osaka d. Minella in 2 sets – Intrigued to see how far Osaka goes this week because based on her recent form and in this draw, it could be all the way
Putintseva d. Melnikova in 2 sets – Better draw on paper for Poots after Cepelova pulled out
Diyas d. Kichenok in 2 sets – They haven’t played since 2013 but Diyas has lost just five games in three matches!
Riske d. Vekic in 3 sets – Interesting match, Vekic is capable of catching a hot streak but just favouring Riske
Zheng d. Pous-Tio in 2 sets – Zheng’s results can be erratic but i’d fancy her to win this one comfortably
Wang d. Nara in 3 sets – Expecting this to be a close one with a potential upset alert as Wang has won their last two encounters
WTA Kaohsiung R1 Predictions for Monday
U. Radwanska d. Hsu in 2 sets – Would be a huge rankings upset if Ula didn’t win this one
Kr. Pliskova d. Doi in 3 sets – Both had match points in their Aus Open defeats. Pliskova has been playing better of late and Doi, even with her weapons, is not a stable number two seed
Sevastova d. Kucova in 2 sets – Sevastova is 4-0 H2H and is better than her current ranking of 100
Full draw predictions
I’m feeling wild! 😀
*Update,,, oh dear :-S*
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