Damien Kayat previews Maria Sakkari v Alize Cornet and Bernarda Pera v Linda Fruhvirtova in selected round of 32 and 16 matches of the German Open and Birmingham Classic.
2022/23 WTA Tour
WTA 500
German Open
Selected Round of 32 Matches
Maria Sakkari 57/100 | Alize Cornet 27/20
This promises to be an interesting rematch of their recent Nottingham clash. Maria Sakkari has had a pretty frustrating campaign. She has reached an impressive four semi-finals this calendar year. But she has also picked up her fair share of first-round exits. She currently holds a 21-12 record for the year and stands on the precipice of losing her top 10 status. She was beaten by wily Frenchwoman Cornet in the Rothesay Open and will be looking for some better purchase on a court she knows well.
She reached the semi-finals here last year and just needs to bring some variety to her game. She has become far too one-dimensional with her recent baseline play. She never really threatened to overwhelm Cornet’s notoriously weak 2nd serve. She needs to be more aggressive and perhaps come to the net more often.
33-year-old Frenchwoman Alize Cornet is something of a throwback player. She doesn’t possess an enormous serve or powerful groundstrokes. She relies on variety and slice. She also loves to rush the net. These are the reasons why she has also seen a decent grass-court exponent.
She just collected her first semi-final appearance of the year in Nottingham. She also memorably broke Iga Swiatek’s 37-match winning streak at last year’s Wimbledon Championships. She also has a grass-court victory against Serena Williams to her name. She is exactly the sort of versatile player who Sakkari can struggle with.
The Verdict: Cornet to win in three at 46/10
Sakkari leads the head-to-head 3-1. But Cornet crucially won last week’s Nottingham encounter in straight sets. Sakkari looked absolutely befuddled by the Frenchwoman’s proclivity to come to the net.
I really think that Cornet has the chance to pull off another upset. Sakkari has been in really indifferent form and I can see Cornet frustrating the Greek. She will maneuverer that backhand slice deep into Sakkari’s backhand corner (thus avoiding the Greek’s monstrous forehand).
2022/23 WTA Tour
WTA 250
Birmingham Classic
Selected Round of 16 Matches
Bernarda Pera 57/100 | Linda Fruhvirtova 27/20
28-year-old American Bernarda Pera- formerly a Croatian national- has been something of a late bloomer. She has a fearless, aggressive approach that took some time to find success. And she enjoyed a terrific breakthrough in 2022 (winning back-to-back titles in Budapest and Hamburg). The lefty cut her teeth on ITF clay-court events and it came as little surprise that she found success on the sticky stuff. And this year has been pretty similar.
She reached the quarterfinals in Strasbourg before a maiden Grand Slam 4th round appearance at the French Open. And she went into her first-round match against Bouzkova with a terrible 1-6 record on grass. But you wouldn’t have guessed that with the way Pera dismantled the Czech. That improved her career grass-court record to 2-6 and next up will yet another Czech in Linda Fruhvirtova.
18-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova is one of the brightest young talents in women’s tennis. She burst onto the scene last year as a prodigious 17-year-old, winning her first title in Chennai and reaching a WTA 1000 4th round for the first time. And she started this season in spectacular fashion, reaching his maiden Grand Slam 4th round at the Aussie Open. She is an absolute terrier from the baseline who chases down everything.
But this year has proven to be a steep learning curb since that Aussie Open foray. In fact, she hasn’t won two consecutive matches at any level since that Aussie Open run. But she will have drawn a massive amount of confidence from the way she destroyed Elina Svitolina in her opening match. That victory actually marked her first ever tour-level win on grass. Sure, Svitolina is coming back from maternity leave. But she has looked solid since her return and is a former Wimbledon semi-finalist. Could this mark the birth of a new grass-court star?
The Verdict: Fruhvirtova to win in three sets
This will be the first career meeting between these two. Pera has the experience and should have the power advantage here.
I just have a funny feeling that the youngster could produce an upset here. That victory against Svitolina was a significant win and I was impressed with the way she varied her play from the back of the court.
