We've got the WTA Istanbul Open final to preview today, with rain hanging over the clay courts and temperatures sitting around 65°F. It's a final that not many would have predicted at the start of the week, so let's get into it.
WTA Istanbul Open Predictions
Donna Vekic vs Maria Timofeeva
Head-to-head: First meeting
Vekic is the higher-ranked player and the more experienced finalist by a distance, but clay has never really been her surface. She's built her best results on hard courts and grass, and getting to a clay final is genuinely impressive for her. That said, Timofeeva has clearly been the better player on this surface all week, and at 136 in the world she's had nothing to lose from the first round onwards and that freedom tends to show in how a player moves and swings through the ball.
The rainy conditions might actually slow things down enough to neutralize some of Vekic's flatter hitting, giving Timofeeva more time to construct points the way she's been doing all tournament. This is a first meeting between them, so there's no tactical blueprint for either side, but Timofeeva's form on this surface this week, which has been as consistent as anyone in the draw, is hard to ignore. I feel like she closes this one out, should still find a way to get through here, even if Vekic makes it uncomfortable in patches.
Prediction: Timofeeva in 3
For full predictions on ATP and WTA matches today, check out Uppset.
Credit Image: © Marcin Cholewinski/ZUMA Press Wire