A few quarter-final picks from Foggia today, where it's a pleasant 66°F under partial cloud and the clay should be playing nicely. We've got three matches to get through, including one where the data points one way and the pick goes the other. Let's get into it.
WTA Open delle Puglie Predictions
Chloe Paquet vs Darya Astakhova
Head-to-head: Paquet 2-0 Astakhova
Paquet leads this head-to-head 2-0, so picking Astakhova here is genuinely going against the grain. But rankings tell part of the story too, and Astakhova is nearly 70 spots above Paquet right now, and Paquet at 343 in the world is clearly in a rough patch of form. Astakhova has more to work with at this level and on this surface and three sets feels about right given the history, all things considered.
Prediction: Astakhova in 3
Laura Mair vs Lucia Bronzetti
Head-to-head: First meeting
Bronzetti is Italian, playing on clay in Italy, and ranked 334 spots above her opponent. Hard to see this being competitive at all. Mair at 506 in the world hasn't done anything to suggest she belongs in a quarter-final against a player of Bronzetti's quality on this surface, and the crowd will be firmly behind the local favourite too. Bronzetti wraps it up in straight sets.
Prediction: Bronzetti in 2
Tyra Caterina Grant vs Tatiana Pieri
Head-to-head: First meeting
Grant is ranked 184 in the world to Pieri's 505, and on clay that kind of gap is hard to close. That said, Pieri is the home hope here as an Italian playing in Foggia, which adds some intrigue, but Grant has the ranking and presumably the results this week to back it up. Feel like this is a comfortable enough win for Grant in two.
Prediction: Grant in 2
For full predictions on ATP and WTA matches today, check out Uppset.
Credit Image: © Eric Dubost/ZUMA Press Wire