Eastbourne:
Tamira Paszek vs. (4) Marion Bartoli
Marion continues to steamroll her opponents as she reaches the semi-finals without dropping a set. Will Tamira topple her? It seems like Bartoli is in peak form and as the highest seed left, she will feel confident of her chances. Besides that, she will have a point to prove to the French Tennis Federation that excluding her from the Olympics is a huge mistake. The narrow-minded French refused to include Marion as she was left out of the Fed Cup team competition. Well, Marion is their best chance at a medal. Why bother sending Cornet to London when she's absolutely hopeless on grass? What arrogant pricks.
Pick: Bartoli in straight sets.
Klara Zakopalova vs (5) Angelique Kerber
Klara Zakopalova gave eventual champion Maria Sharapova the toughest match in Paris. It is good to see her carry that form here. Klara's flat groundstrokes will be very effective on grass. Approaching 30, it is nice to see some kind of resurgence for her. She will meet top 10 player, Angelique Kerber, after she easily dispatched Makarova. Kerber continues to surprise me with her wins across all surfaces. I thought she plays her best on hard courts but it seems like she can play on clay and grass too. I think with her sky-high confidence, another win for her is inevitable.
Pick: Kerber in 2 sets
Rosmalen:
Kim Clijsters vs Urszula Radwanska
There isn't really much to analyse here. Kim Clijsters will win easily. Her form has been good for the past 2 matches and I don't see anything that Urszula has that can hurt Kim. Kim will be gunning for the title for a perfect preparation for Wimbledon. The seeds better beware as she is unseeded. It makes for an interesting early round match-up. Who knows... Maybe Serena Williams or Maria Sharapova vs Kim Clijsters in the first round? Yikes!
Pick: Clijsters ploughs through Radwanska in 2 simple and straightforward sets
Kirsten Flipkens/Roberta Vinci vs Nadia Petrova
Kristen Flipkens plummeted down the rankings due to her injury and seemed to be back on track with this good showing. She just needs one more game to face Nadia Petrova in the semi-finals. If Flipkens chokes this away, Vinci would have to play one more set before facing Nadia; which gives Nadia an immediate advantage. So I do not see Nadia losing this match facing either Vinci or Flipkens. It will setup a potential rematch between Clijsters and Petrova, where their last meeting resulted in Kim's worst defeat in her entire career.
Pick: Petrova in straight sets
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