We take a look at the semi-finals of the WTA Tour’s Dubai Tennis Championships taking place on Friday.
Su-Wei Hsieh 26/10 | Petra Kvitova 1/4
Petra Kvitova will be buoyed by Naomi Osaka’s opening round defeat to Kristina Mlandenovic. It allows her to bore into Osaka’s rankings advantage in a quest to usurp the Japanese star as World Number One. The Czech starlet has enjoyed an amazing rejuvenation since the beginning of last year. She has won a stunning six titles on all surfaces. And her recent defeat to Naomi Osaka in the Aussie Open Final reaffirmed her affinity for deep Grand Slam runs: she is a two-time Wimbledon champion. She has looked imperious thus far, accounting for Kuzmova and Brady in dismissive fashion. The Czech star actually won this event as far back as 2013. Her recovery following that traumatic knife attack has been sensational and Kvitova will be entering this match as the solid favourite.
Su-Wei Hsieh has done it the hard way this week. She opened the tournament with a victory over 10th seed Sevatsova. It only got tougher, with tight three-set epics against both Kerber and Karolina Pliskova. So it’s fair to say that the 33-year-old Taiwanese journey-woman will be the more physically rattled player in this semi-final. Hsieh has always been an extremely able single’s competitor. But it was in doubles that she has really flourished: she has two Grand Slam titles to her name. She had a decent end to her 2018 campaign, profiting in fairly benign Asian events. But she seems to have built on that entering this season. She reached the semi-finals in Auckland prior to a typically pugnacious showing at Melbourne. She pushed eventual champion Naomi Osaka to three sets in a tight third round loss.
This match-up just doesn’t stack up well for the plucky Taiwanese star. Petra Kvitova leads the head-to-head 3-0, which includes a victory this year in Sydney. In fact, Kvitova has yet to ever drop a set to Hsieh. Hsieh is known for her idiosyncratic style, which sees her playing double-handed on both wings. It allows her to create a variety of awkward angles. The likes of Kerber will always be susceptible to that. Kvitova hits the ball far flatter and a straight sets victory at 7/10 looks the only decent value to me. A certainty- one would think.
Belinda Bencic 22/10 | Elina Svitolina 3/10
Much like Karolina Pliskova, Elina Svitolina is sometimes a forgotten power in women’s tennis. That is probably largely owed to the fact that she is yet to progress past the quarter-final stage of a Grand Slam: she is the veritable Alex Zverev of the women’s game. But she has been one of the most consistent performers on the tour in general; perhaps only Petra Kvitova has been more consistent throughout the last 18 months. Svitolina won three Premier 5 titles in 2017 and claimed this title last season. She also claimed the title in Rome, which was critical in establishing her as a credible clay-court threat. She reached the semi-finals last week in Qatar and ran into an inspired Naomi Osaka in Melbourne. She is a two-time defending champion here and has looked peerless this week.
Swiss Belinda Bencic is quite a curious case. The 21-year-old seems to have been around for longer than her age suggests: she reached as high as seventh in the rankings back in 2016. She won the Roger’s Cup and Eastbourne events in 2015, which seemed to signal the arrival of a new force in women’s tennis. But loss of form and persistent injury issues saw her relegated to the background of women’s tennis. But Bencic has rediscovered her groove, starting with that Hopman Cup victory last season. She won an ITF title in the States towards the end of last season, signalling the mini-resurgence that was to come. She reached the semi-finals in Auckland and fought her way through to the third round in Melbourne. She has looked brilliant this week in accounting for the likes of Sabalanka and Simona Halep. She is a genuine talent who is just starting to find her rhythm again.
This will only be their second ever meeting, with Bencic owning the academic advantage with a 2014 victory in Charleston. Svitolina is clearly a compelling favourite here. I just have a hunch that Bencic will represent great value as an outsider. Unlike Hsieh in the previous encounter, Bencic has the power to go toe-to-toe with Svitolina.
