A couple of semi-final picks from Modena today, where it's clear skies and a high of 95°F, so the clay should be playing fast and the conditions demanding. Both are first meetings, which always makes things a bit harder to call, but let's get into it.
WTA Memorial Eugenio Fontana Predictions
Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva vs Katarzyna Kawa
Head-to-head: First meeting
Jimenez Kasintseva is only 19 and has shown some real promise on clay, but Kawa is a seasoned clay-court competitor who's been around the ITF and lower-tier WTA circuit long enough to know how to handle big moments in semi-finals. That experience matters at this level more than rankings suggest and the gap between 124 and 143 in the world is basically nothing at a tournament like this.
Kawa in 3 feels right. These matches tend to go the distance when you have two players who've never faced each other and both know how to grind on clay.
Prediction: Kawa in 3
Lucia Bronzetti vs Laura Samson
Head-to-head: First meeting
Bronzetti is actually the higher-ranked player here, but she's had a rough stretch of results lately and is still searching for some consistency. That said, Samson has been playing well enough to reach this stage and the rankings are close enough that this really is a coin flip on paper. With the heat in Modena, which is one of the more demanding environments on the Italian clay circuit, and clay that might be playing a bit quicker than usual, this one probably comes down to who handles the conditions better down the stretch of a third set.
Prediction: Samson in 3
For full predictions on ATP and WTA matches today, check out Uppset.
Credit Image: © Oscar J. Barroso/AFP7 via ZUMA Press Wire