A couple of quarter-final picks from Bad Homburg today, where the grass is producing some interesting results. Who do you think makes it through to the semis?
WTA Bad Homburg Open Predictions
Xinyu Wang vs Elina Svitolina
Head-to-head: Svitolina leads 2-0
Svitolina has beaten Wang both times they've met, and there's no real reason to think this one plays out differently. Wang is a decent player but grass has never been her best surface, and Svitolina is one of the more complete players in the draw here. She reads the game well and doesn't give away cheap points and has the experience to manage a tricky quarter-final without doing anything stupid.
Hard to see Wang being competitive at all here. Svitolina in 3 feels like the cautious call, but honestly she might not even need that many.
Prediction: Svitolina in 3
Emma Navarro vs Elena Gabriela Ruse
Head-to-head: Navarro leads 3-0
On paper this should be comfortable for Navarro. She's 3-0 against Ruse, including a win earlier this season, and is the far higher-ranked player, and her grass game has looked solid this season. But Ruse is one of those players who can go on a run at any moment, especially on a surface that rewards big, flat hitting, and she's clearly playing well enough to have reached a quarter-final here.
That said, dropping all three previous matches to Navarro is a real mental hurdle to get over. Ruse wins this one, but it shouldn't surprise anyone if it goes deep into the third.
Prediction: Ruse in 3
For full predictions on ATP and WTA matches today, check out Uppset.
Credit Image: © Loic Baratoux/ZUMA Press Wire