Damien Kayat previews Barbora Krejcikova vs Liudmila Samsonova and Coco Gauff vs Veronika Kudermetova in the Round of 32 matches of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix on the 18th and 19th of April 2023.
2023 WTA Tour
WTA 500
Porsche Tennis Grand Prix
Porsche-Arena (Indoor Clay-Court)
Selected Round of 32 Matches – 18th, 19th April
18th March
Barbora Krejcikova (58/100) | Liudmila Samsonova (13/10)
This should be a fascinating clash between World No.12 Barbora Krejcikova and World No.13 Liudmila Samsonova. 2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova is enjoying a pretty fabulous season.
She and Katerina Siniakova have been typically resplendent in doubles action (they currently sit at a 12-1 for the year). She has balanced that doubles success with some really solid solo play this year (she is currently working a 16-7 record for the year).
The obvious highlight of her year was that sensational victory in Dubai. She won her maiden WTA 1000 title in some style, beating four top 10 players en route to the title. She followed up that Dubai success with back-to-back round of 16 runs in the ‘Sunshine Double’.
She is obviously full of confidence at present and will go into this as a worthy favorite. But she is yet to reach another clay-court final since capturing that French Open title.
24-year-old Russian Liudmila Samsonova really enjoyed a breakthrough season last year. She won three titles during a magical late-season surge.
The big-serving Russian dominated that little period of the WTA Tour with a nearly impenetrable serve, bursting her way into the top 20 in the WTA rankings.
She snuck into the top 15 in the world courtesy of an Abu Dhabi final run earlier this year. But her form has plateaued significantly since then (she is currently sitting at a humdrum 8-8 record for the year). And there isn’t a whole lot of evidence in her recent clay-court history to suggest a change in proceedings.
She has gone 9-13 in her past two seasons on the sticky stuff. Her big serve and aggressive stroke-play are simply not rewarded as richly on this surface. Having said that, she did reach the semi-finals here last year.
Verdict: Krejcikova to win in straight sets at 13/10
Samsonova leads Krejcikova 1-0, beating the Czech in straight sets earlier this year in Abu Dhabi. And that’s understandable. Samsonova has a power-based game that can easily take the match away from you on a brisk hardcourt.
But these surfaces are an entirely different story. Krejikova is one of the best returners in world tennis and these slower surfaces will give her a foothold in the match.
19th March
Coco Gauff (5) (46/100) | Veronika Kudermetova (33/20)
World No.6 Coco Gauff has been a bastion of consistency this season. She is currently 15-5 for the year, winning her 3rd career title at the Auckland Open.
But she has run into that Gauff problem of not converting quarterfinals and semi-finals into titles. She has only reached two finals since the start of 2022. I almost couldn’t believe that stat. Obviously one of those finals came in last year’s French Open final.
But it does illustrate the fact that she is a little gun-shy when it comes to the business end of tournaments. But you can’t deny her consistency. The 19-year-old is actually in the midst of one of the most turbulent periods in her whole career.
She separated from coach Diego Monyoyo after a very fruitful year-long partnership. She cited personal reasons and I think the whole saga somewhat affected her singles performance in Miami. She lost in three sets to Potapova, surrendering a lead in uncharacteristically poor fashion.
But she did manage to win the doubles title alongside Jessica Pegula. She will be hoping for a strong bounce-back this week.
25-year-old Veronika Kudermetova is going through a really tough spell at the minute. She has lost five of her last six matches and is on a run of three successive defeats. And her last defeat in Charleston was a devastating straight-sets defeat to the unheralded Diana Shnaider.
Her emphasis on all-out aggression does open itself up for periods of rash form. She needs to increase that first-serve percentage and focus on cutting down the unforced errors. But make no mistake- Kudermetova has been one of the more consistent players on the tour for the past 18 months.
She reached three finals in the early part of last year and a further four semi-finals in the latter half. She also made her Major breakthrough with a quarterfinal run on the red clay of Roland Garros. And that was just a continuation of some really solid clay-court form.
She won her one and only WTA title at the 2021 Charleston Open (making last week’s defeat to Shnaider more incongruous). She also reached the Istanbul Cup final last year.
Verdict: Gauff to win in three at 31/10
Kudermetova leads Gauff 1-0 in their rivalry. The Russian beat the American earlier this year, overcoming Gauff in a three-set tussle at the Qatar Open. The Russian needs to elevate her game given her recent form.
But I think she has the power to destabilize the occasionally passive Gauff. Still, I expect Gauff to grow into the match and persevere in three.
