A few picks from the qualifying final at the HSBC Championships in London, with three players looking to punch their tickets into the main draw. Grass-court qualifying is always its own thing, so who do you think makes it through?
WTA The HSBC Championships - London Predictions
Qinwen Zheng vs Jaqueline Cristian
Head-to-head: Zheng 2-2 Cristian
The head-to-head is perfectly split, but the rankings tell a bit of a different story than those numbers suggest. Zheng was a top-10 player not long ago and is still far more comfortable on faster surfaces than her current ranking implies and grass should suit her ball-striking pretty well. Cristian at 32 is technically the higher-ranked player here, but she hasn't done much on grass historically and qualifying finals tend to reward clean, flat hitting over anything else.
I think Zheng gets through, though it'll probably take three sets given how competitive their previous meetings have been.
Prediction: Zheng in 3
Tatjana Maria vs Kamilla Rakhimova
Head-to-head: Maria 1-1 Rakhimova
If there's one player on the WTA tour built for grass, it's Maria. Her slice, her angles, her serve-and-volley instincts, it all clicks on this surface in a way it simply doesn't anywhere else. That said, Rakhimova is a solid baseliner but grass genuinely exposes her and she's got nothing in her game that particularly troubles a player like Maria here.
Prediction: Maria in 2
Karolina Pliskova vs Mccartney Kessler
Head-to-head: First meeting
Pliskova at 106 in the world is a long way from the player who reached the Wimbledon final in 2021, and while the grass pedigree is real, she's been inconsistent for a while now. Kessler at 48 is the higher-ranked player and has been one of the more reliable performers on the WTA tour this year. Hard to see this being competitive at all, with the ranking gap and current form both pointing the same direction.
Kessler wins this, most likely in three, all things considered.
Prediction: Kessler in 3
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