We did well with our tennis picks in the round of 16 and now the Qatar Open tennis tournament heads for the quarterfinals. All but two of the matches in the Round of 16 ended in straight sets as we went 2-1 with our tennis picks. Agnieszka Radwanska had little trouble with Monica Niculescu as Niculescu forced her to win a seventh game in the first set (7-5) but then offered little resistance in the second set. As for Eugenie Bouchard, she basically did the same thing with Saisai Zheng. She forced her into a tiebreak in the first set before folding 6-1 in the second. Our lone loss on the day was Coco Vandeweghe, who lost 6-3, 6-4 to Andrea Petkovic. We had expected a different result in this spot and while it was a close match, Petkovic capitalized on a couple of break points to make the difference.
Four seeded players were knocked out in the early rounds, but four seeded players remain in the final eight. One match pits two seeded players against each other. There’s a lot to consider on the quarterfinal card:
Saisai Zheng vs. Jelena Ostapenko
This is a highly intriguing match. Zheng just beat Angelique Kerber and then Eugenie Bouchard, a Grand Slam champion and then a Grand Slam finalist. Ostapenko just beat two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, excusing her from Doha. Both players are on a roll and feeling very good about themselves. In that regard, this match is relatively even. What else can recommend a pick in one direction or the other? Kvitova, whom Ostapenko defeated, has been battling an injury. That might take a little bit away from what Ostapenko did – not much, but enough to perhaps change a few minds. The fact that Kerber was an earlier victim of Zheng in this tournament also points to Zheng’s ability to beat other players when they’re playing their best, since Kerber won the Australian Open a few weeks ago. Kvitova has not been in very good form recently, so if you’re going to make small comparisons in pursuit of a more likely pick, Zheng has a slight advantage. It’s not a huge one, but it’s noticeable enough when you dig into the numbers and recent history. Take Zheng with your tennis picks.
Pick: Zheng in three sets
Carla Suarez-Navarro vs. Elena Vesnina
This is a matchup of the No. 8 seed in Suarez-Navarro and the unseeded Vesnina. Suarez-Navarro has been a lot more consistent throughout her career. Vesnina is regarded by many as someone who has not achieved what her talent might suggest she should have. By this standard alone, Suarez-Navarro should be the pick in this match, and she should definitely be the favorite. However, Vesnina seems to have come alive at this tournament. She not only beat Simona Halep earlier in the week in Doha; she then beat Caroline Wozniacki. Unless you’re Serena Williams or perhaps Victoria Azarenka, beating Halep and Wozniacki in consecutive matches is extremely noteworthy and dazzling. If Vesnina is showing enough good tennis to beat the kinds of opponents she’s leaving in the dust, she’s probably the better choice for your tennis picks in this match against Suarez-Navarro.
Pick: Vesnina in three sets
Roberta Vinci vs. Agnieszka Radwanska
This is a match which features two off-pace hitters. It’s funny in that Radwanska just got finished playing Monica Niculescu, who also plays an off-speed form of tennis instead of hitting with maximum force in an attempt to end points quickly, with brute strength and raw power. Exactly because she just saw a player – Niculescu – who likes to hit at softer speeds, Radwanska should not be thrown off guard by the spins and slices employed by Vinci. This is a case in which a player’s tournament opponent on one day influences the result of the match on the next day of the tournament. Radwanska probably got helped by having to play Niculescu before Vinci. She’ll win this match between the third (Radwanka) and ninth (Vinci) seeds in the tournament.
Pick: Radwanska in three sets
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