Qualifying finals at Eastbourne today, and we've got three picks from the grass courts as players fight for spots in the main draw. Grass qualifying is always its own thing, and ranking means a lot less out here than it does on clay or hard courts. So who makes it through?
WTA Lexus Eastbourne Open Predictions
Panna Udvardy vs Anna Bondar
Head-to-head: Udvardy 2-1 Bondar
Udvardy leads the head-to-head and is the slightly higher-ranked of the two coming in, but this is a grass court and Bondar has shown she can compete on any surface. The H2H is tight enough that it doesn't tell us much and these two are close enough in level that small margins will decide it.
I think Bondar takes this one in three. Close matches between evenly matched players on grass tend to go long, and Bondar's flat ball-striking is well-suited to keeping points short on this surface.
Prediction: Bondar in 3
Ajla Tomljanovic vs Veronika Erjavec
Head-to-head: First meeting
Tomljanovic is ranked ten spots below Erjavec right now, but her ranking doesn't reflect where she actually is as a player. She's a former top-40 who's spent years competing at the highest level on grass, and this surface genuinely suits her game. Erjavec is ranked 86th and is the more recent player of the two in terms of experience at this level, and that gap shows up most on fast courts where reading the ball early matters.
Tomljanovic should still find a way to get through here in three. The conditions should help her.
Prediction: Tomljanovic in 3
Hannah Klugman vs Tereza Valentova
Head-to-head: First meeting
On paper this looks ridiculous. Klugman is ranked 509th, Valentova is 63rd, and you'd normally not give the lower-ranked player a second thought. But Klugman is British, this is Eastbourne, and she's a grass-court specialist who grew up on this surface, and that counts for a lot in qualifying on a surface where feel and instinct matter more than raw ranking. That said, Valentova hasn't done anything on grass that suggests she's comfortable here.
Feel like Klugman pulls this off in three, and honestly it wouldn't be the biggest shock of the week if she does.
Prediction: Klugman in 3
For full predictions on ATP and WTA matches today, check out Uppset.
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