Baku SF: Can Svitolina repeat?

Stefanie Voegele vs. Bojana Jovanovski

Stefanie Voegele seems to have snapped out of her awful slump this year with some good wins in recent tournaments. She will face 2012 champion, Jovanovski for her first tour final appearance. Even though she is playing well, much has to be attributed to her opponent's level of play. Cirstea was just woeful in her match against Voegele, so the Swiss didn't have to do much. Bojana obviously loves this tournament given how well she has performed her before, so the edge has to go to her.

Pick: Jovanovski in 3 sets

Francesca Schiavone vs. Elina Svitolina

Francesca gained sweet revenge over Mladenovic with a win over the Frenchwoman after the umpire overruled a call that was way out last week in Istanbul. It wasn't Kristina's fault, but Francesca really didn't deserve such an appalling call. It's nice to see Schiavone still fighting hard at the twilight of her career. She will have an uphill task to beat defending champion Svitolina. The Ukrainian looks good to defend her title but Francesca definitely has the game to trouble her. Let's see if Schiavone can hold her stamina.

Pick: Svitolina in 3 sets

Baku day 4: Where the real action is

Schedule of play:

http://www.wtatennis.com/schedule/tournamentId/2184/title/baku-cup

Match focus:

Sorana Cirstea vs. Stefanie Voegele

Compared to yesterday's matches, today's matches are more interesting, with several title hopefuls in contention. Top seed Cirstea will be looking to advance to her first quarter-final this year and break out of her horrible slump. The Romanian has been lacklustre this whole season, and it's good to see her play lower tier events to gain confidence. Voegele's game is pretty much reactive, so if Cirstea can keep her errors low, she has a high chance of defeating the Swiss. Knowing Cirstea though, she will make things difficult for herself.

Pick: Cirstea in 3 sets

Kristina Mladenovic vs. Donna Vekic

This match of the rising stars pits Mladenovic against Kuala Lumpur titlist, Vekic. Kristina has been on a roll lately, reaching the semi-finals of Istanbul last week. She will be the favourite here despite her lower ranking. Vekic was expected to perform great things after her triumph in Kuala Lumpur, but failed to gain any momentum after that. Perhaps it's due to the weight of expectations on her young shoulders. It will be a good win if Vekic manages to beat Kristina, but the erratic Donna needs to get a few wins under her belt to get rolling.

PickL Mladenovic in 3 sets

Silvia Soler Espinosa vs. Elina Svitolina

Defending champion Svitolina has had a rough couple of months. She had some weird losses to players she's supposed to cruise by, so Elina's form is suspect. However, as this is played on hard courts, the Ukrainian will still have the advantage. Silvia's scrappy game works best on slow clay courts, and will find it difficult to track down so many of Elina's flat shots. Maybe we'll have a multiple Baku champion here.

Pick: Svitolina in 2 sets

Baku day 1: Surprisingly strong field this year

Baku schedule of play:

http://www.wtatennis.com/schedule/tournamentId/2184/title/baku-cup

Match focus:

Pauline Parmentier vs. Alexandra Dulgheru

Pauline Parmentier enjoyed an inspiring run in Paris, but continued her bad run of results immediately after that. Looks like that Paris run was a fluke. Alexandra will be the slight favourite here, being a former top 30 player. However, the hard courts will suit Pauline more, so Dulgheru will need to make the Frenchwoman work for her points. If the Romanian stays healthy, she should be able to outlast Pauline.

Pick: Dulgheru in 2 sets

Alexandra Cadantu vs. Stefanie Voegele

Stefanie Voegele must be thanking her lucky stars upon drawing slumping Cadantu. The troubled Romanian is utterly dismal this year, and even though Voegele herself isn't in sparkling form, it will definitely be enough to defeat the dire Cadantu. Not too sure what is wrong with Alex, but I think she needs to take a break to regroup herself. Her losing ways cannot be good for her mentality.

Pick: Voegele in 2 sets

Patricia Mayr-Achleitner vs. Bojana Jovanovski

As a former champion here, Jovanovski will be confident of her chances here. Mayr-Achleitner's game is more to annoy her opponent than outplaying them, so I don't expect Bojana to fall for that trap. With a better field this year, Bojana may not be able to repeat her triumph 2 years ago, but should be able to cruise through her opener.

Pick: Jovanovski in 2 sets

Sure win bets: Yvonne Meusburger, Stefanie Voegele, Bojana Jovanovski,
Upset alert: Pauline Parmentier

Budapest, Bad Gastein day 3: Roberta to sink further

Budapest schedule of play:

http://www.wtatennis.com/schedule/tournamentId/3823/title/bucharest-open--bucharest-romania

Bad Gastein schedule of play:


Match focus:

Alexandra Dulgheru vs. Roberta Vinci

I really have no idea how to make sense of Vinci's massive slump. If she's just playing badly, her doubles results would have suffered as well. However, she just completed her doubles Grand Slam last week. Maybe age is catching up with the Italian, making her unable to cover the entire court. Dulgheru will enjoy homecrowd support, and coupled with the Italian's absolute-no-form-to-speak-of, she will be the favourite here.

Pick: Dulgheru in 2 sets

Kiki Bertens vs. Irina Camelia-Begu

Kiki Bertens enjoyed a good run in Paris, winning her matches from qualifying all the way to the 4th round. Will she have what it takes to take down Irina, who's playing in front of her home crowd? These 2 have met 2 times previously, and Irina has won both times, including one this year in Oeiras. Can Kiki reverse the trend and clinch her first win? I believe Irina's form has dropped off again after picking up during the clay season. Kiki will be confident after her 4th round run, and can score her first win over the Romanian. Sometimes, support can also mean pressure.

Pick: Bertens in 3 sets

Stefanie Voegele vs. Elina Svitolina

Stefanie Voegele should be sending Julia Goerges a thank you card for her gifts during their first rounf match. Julia was just hitting everything way out and not bothering to craft out any sort of rally. Basically all Stefanie did was keep the ball in. I hope whoever paid to watch that match gets a refund. Elina will not be as nonsensical as Goerges, and will probably teach Voegele a lesson. Stefanie has been slumping this season, and I don't see her breaking out of her slump with such a horrific performance in her first round.

Pick: Svitolina in 2 sets

Sure win bets: Simona Halep, Monica Niculescu, Karolina Pliskova
Upset alert: Roberta Vinci, Irina Camelia Begu, Grace Min

Bucharest, Bad Gastein day 1: Clay anyone?

Bucharest schedule of play:

http://www.wtatennis.com/schedule/tournamentId/3823/title/bucharest-open--bucharest-romania

Bad Gastein schedule of play:

http://www.wtatennis.com/schedule/tournamentId/1340/title/nurnberger-gastein-ladies

Match focus:

Klara Koukalova vs. Monica Niculescu

Doubles partners face off in this intriguing encounter. Monica's suffering from a dip in form in recent months, but will be eager to play well in her home country Romania. It will be tough facing Klara, as she's higher ranked and her doubles partner. However, there's a chance that the home crowd will get to Klara and make her bothered. If Klara gives up, Niculescu can win this. I think this will be a close match, with Klara emerging the winner though.

Pick: Koukalova in 3 sets

Flavia Pennetta vs. Grace Min

It seems that winning Indian Wells did more harm than good to Pennetta. She has been struggling mightily since then, and suffered humiliating exits in both Roland Garros and Wimbledon. On clay, Flavia should be the favourite, but with her current form, I cannot be sure. Grace Min hits well and can challenge players, but her mental strength is still an unknown. Flavia should be able to win this despite her recent dip in form. If she loses this, I will be very worried.

Pick: Pennetta in 2 sets

Stefanie Voegele vs. Julia Goerges

The good news for Julia is that she's playing close matches with top players, but she just couldn't get the win. For Voegele, the Swiss is barely winning matches against anyone of note, so Goerges can relax a bit. Besides, this is on her preferred red clay surface, which suits her long swinging strokes. However, you just never know which Julia will turn up, so I think this will go to 3 sets.

Pick: Goerges in 3 sets

Sure win bets: Flavia Pennetta, Annika Beck
Upset alert: Nadiia Kichenok, Anna Schmiedlova

Acapulco, Florianopolis day 1: Clay season continues in South America

For clay court specialists, clay season continues in Brazil, while others prepare for the North American hard court swin by entering Acapulco.

Acapulco schedule of play:

http://www.wtatennis.com/schedule/tournamentId/87/title/abierto-mexicano-telcel

Florianopolis schedule:

http://www.wtatennis.com/schedule/tournamentId/3024/title/brasil-tennis-cup

Match focus:

Stefanie Voegele vs. Kimiko Date-Krumm

Stefanie's form has been on the rise for the past one year, and she looks set to continue her rich rein of form against the veteran, Kimiko Date-Krumm. The pair has met 3 times, with Voegele leading the head-to-head 2-1. It will be difficult for the Japanese to beat the younger more energetic Voegele, but she can disrupt her rhythm by throwing different balls at the Swiss. This will be a close match, but I think Voegele will sneak out the win.

Pick: Voegele in 3 sets

Kristine Mladenovic vs. Christina McHale

These 2 are ranked respectively at 72 and 71, so there's little to separate them. The problem with Mladenovic is that she has all the power, but not the discipline to use it effectively. McHale lacks in raw power, but she knows when to hit hard, and when to just hang in there. So it's a tough call, Mladenovic might just have her day and totally dominate McHale. Still, I think the steadier American will win as Kristina always loses her concentration after a few bad shots.

Pick: McHale in 2 tight sets

Vania King vs. Garbine Muguruza

Vania King has had a mixed bag of results recently. She defeated Errani in Shenzhen, and now is on a 4 match losing streak, reaching a new low when she lost to Begu last week. Clay obviously isn't the surface for her, so I wonder why she's playing here instead of Acapulco. Garbine will be more familiar with the red stuff, despite her better results on hard courts. King will have to put on an inspired performance to have a chance against te in-form Muguruza.

Pick: Muguruza in 2 sets

Sure win bets: Carla Suarez Navarro, Marina Erakovic, Bojana Jovanovski
Upset alert: Francesca Schiavone, Patricia Mayr-Achleitner

Luxembourg, Moscow SF: All Russian finals possible

Luxembourg SF:

Caroline Wozniacki vs. Sabine Lisicki

Caroline barely escaped the hard hitter in Jovanovski, and she will face a harder basher in Sabine Lisicki. The heads to heads is tied at 2 all, but I believe Sabine has the advantage in this fast indoor courts. Wozniacki did win their last encounter in Melbourne this year, but it was a hard fought 3 set match. With her injury supposedly healed, Sabine should be able to blast Wozniacki into submission.

Pick: Lisicki in 3 sets

Stefanie Voegele vs. Annika Beck

2 surprise semifinalists here as Voegele manages to upset the favoured Sloane Stephens in their quarter-final match. Sorry for shifting the focus, but Sloane is making too much noise for someone who cannot even reach the finals of a depleted event. She should concentrate on being consistent instead of saying things that she cannot live up to. Anyway, Voegele seems to picking up pace again after her impressive Charleston run. Still, I will give the advantage to Annika Beck, whose consistent strokes will be hard to break down. Annika has also won their only encounter, so she should be able to replicate her success.

Pick: Beck in 3 sets

Moscow SF:

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Simona Halep

Simona lead their heads to head 2-0, but I''m going to favour Pavlyuchenkova this time. Firstly, she is playing in Russia, and will get the full crowd support. Second, she was so close to beating Simona in Tokyo, but was undone by her fatigue after her Seoul final appearance. Now well rested and seemingly in the form of her life, Anastasia looks like a safe bet for the final. Halep had the good luck of drawing Kleybanova, who must be exhausted with her long drawn matches.

Pick: Pavlyuchenkova in 2 sets

Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Samantha Stosur

Battle of the massive forehands here as doubles partners take on each other in this semi-finals. Stosur was impressive in her conquest of Ivanovic, but it was also due to Ana's mental fragility. What's more impressive is Kuznetsova''s demolition of Vinci, having lost their last match in Dubai. Will Svetlana turn the tides against the Aussie, having lost their last 2 matches as well? It seems so as Svetlana will be lifted by the home crowd, and Stosur must be tired from her recent matches. Also, Kuznetsova will be eager to join Pavlyuchenkova in the finals, should Anastasia win her match before this.

Pick: Kuznetsova in 2 tight sets