A couple of quarter-final picks from Hamburg today, with pleasant conditions and temperatures around 15°C making for good clay-court tennis. Both matches are first meetings, so there's a bit of the unknown here. Let's get into it.
WTA MSC Hamburg Ladies Open Predictions
Tamara Korpatsch vs Anhelina Kalinina
Head-to-head: First meeting
Korpatsch is a home favourite here and clay is genuinely her best surface, so don't expect her to just hand this over. That said, Kalinina is the higher-ranked player and has shown she can grind on slow courts, which is exactly what Hamburg tends to produce. The ranking gap isn't massive, but it's meaningful enough at this level.
This one feels like it goes the distance. Korpatsch will have the crowd and the surface familiarity, but Kalinina's consistency from the baseline should be the difference in the end.
Prediction: Kalinina in 3
Anna Bondar vs Alina Charaeva
Head-to-head: First meeting
Bondar comes in ranked higher and has been a solid performer on clay throughout her career, with the kind of steady game that tends to wear opponents down on this surface. Charaeva is ranked outside the top 100 and reaching a quarter-final here is already a strong result, but hard to see her living with Bondar's experience at this stage.
I think Bondar gets through, though probably not without dropping a set. Charaeva has nothing to lose and that can make players dangerous, but Bondar in 3 feels right and should have enough on this surface, all things considered.
Prediction: Bondar in 3
For full predictions on ATP and WTA matches today, check out Uppset.
Credit Image: © Rob Prange/AFP7 via ZUMA Press Wire