WTA Oeiras Final Prediction: Carla Suarez Navarro v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

The Oeiras final will see Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova take on Carla Suarez Navarro, which was for once, correctly predicted by Moo! Pavlyuchenkova had a terrible start to her semi-final against Romina Oprandi, who had been on a rampage through the draw having lost just 14 games in her first three matches.  Oprandi raced out into a 6-0 lead, but the Russian managed to get the all important break in the second set and then the Oprandi that we have come to know officially arrived in the third set as Pavlyuchenkova swiftly wrapped up a 0-6 6-3 6-1 in one of the strangest WTA scorelines in 2013 to date.  Suarez Navarro looked to have a very tough semi-final on paper against Kaia Kanepi, who defeated her in last year's final; however after a tight opening set, the Spaniard strolled through the second set to post a 6-4 6-1 victory.  

 

This final promises to be very intriguing; Pavlyuchenkova has a comprehensive lead in their head-to-head with 4 straight wins and 3 of those coming in straight sets. Pavlyuchenkova has raised her level in the last couple of weeks, but can still blow hot and cold, just like today.  Suarez Navarro has looked very convincing this week and appears to be flourishing without any injury clouds surrounding her.  A tough match for sure and I predict lots of jitters, but I have a feeling the Spaniard will net her first title in an epic final. She was my original prediction so I am hoping for a full house ;-)

Prediction - Suarez Navarro to beat Pavlyuchenkova in 3 sets

Best of the rest: ATP Oeiras semi-final predictions

David Ferrer to beat Andreas Seppi in 3 sets

Stanislas Wawrinka to beat Pablo Carreno-Busta in 3 sets

Best of the rest: ATP Munich semi-final predictions

Daniel Brands to beat Phillipp Kohlschreiber in 2 tight sets

Tommy Haas to beat Ivan Dodig in 2 tight sets

It has been my best week of predictions all year as I also correctly predicted 7/8 quarter-finalists and 3/4 semi-finalists in Munich.  I am hoping that the good luck will continue tomorrow,  The draws for Madrid are both out and the WTA main draw kicks off tomorrow! I am away from my computer this weekend, but hope to have the Madrid preview out before play kicks off tomorrow.  The full predictions will not be published until Monday evening.

WTA Oeiras Semi-Final Predictions: Pavlyuchenkova-Oprandi, Kanepi-Suarez Navarro

1. Romina Oprandi v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

The real surprise package of this week has been Romina Oprandi, who tore past a lacklustre, Svetlana Kuznetsova to post a 6-2 6-2 quarter-final victory.  She takes on another Russian tomorrow, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova who edged past Elena Vesnina in a third set tiebreak, 6-3 6-7(3) 7-6(3).  Vesnina served for the match, but Pavlyuchenkova dug her heels in and produced another excellent victory.  The input of Martina Hingis has certainly shown to be having a positive impact although it may be too soon to tell.  Oprandi has played the better tennis this week and is a pretty talented player when she wants to be; that is the problem though as she can often go away from matches and look like she is not really trying.  This will be a tough one for Pavlyuchenkova, but I think three confidence boosting wins already this week will help her on her way to a third final in 2013

Prediction - Pavlyuchenkova to beat Oprandi in 2 tight sets

2. Kaia Kanepi v Carla Suarez Navarro

We are assured at least one of last year's finalists will make the final again in 2013 as Kaia Kanepi and Carla Suarez Navarro set up a final rematch for tomorrow's semi-final.  Kanepi has built up a strong week with wins over Kristina Mladenovic and Sorana Cirstea, and today she edged out an improving Ayumi Morita, 6-4 6-3.  Suarez Navarro has also played very well this week and is yet to lose as set as her pursuit for a first ever WTA title went through Monica Puig today, who put up a valiant effort before falling 6-2 6-4.  The last time Kanepi and CSN played was in the Estoril final and it was Kanepi who prevailed in an epic momentum-swinger of a match, 3-6 7-6(6) 6-4.  Both have a tendency to get tight in close situations and I think this will be no different to last year's final; my original final prediction is still in the balance and I won't be going against my original prediction...

Prediction - Suarez Navarro to beat Kanepi in 3 sets

Best of the rest: ATP Oeiras Predictions

David Ferrer to beat Victor Hanescu in 2 tight sets

Tommy Robredo to beat Andreas Seppi in 2 tight sets

Fabio Fognini to beat Pablo Carreno-Busta in 3 sets

Stanislas Wawrinka to beat Gastao Elias in 2 sets

Best of the rest: ATP Munich Predictions

Daniel Brands to beat Janko Tipsarevic in 3 sets

Phillipp Kohlschreiber to beat Viktor Troicki in 2 tight sets

Tommy Haas to beat Florian Mayer in 2 very tight sets

Ivan Dodig to beat Alexandr Dolgopolov in 3 sets

WTA Oeiras Quarter-Final Predictions: Kuznetsova-Oprandi, Pavlyuchenkova-Vesnina

A pretty good day of predictions today in Oeiras and Munich; hoping I can keep it up with all three predicted finals still intact for this week...

Svetlana Kuznetsova

Romina Oprandi v Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Kuznetsova has been shunted out onto the outside courts in Estoril for her first two matches but gets prime billing for her quarter-final with Romina Oprandi tomorrow.  Kuznetsova knocked out Varvara Lepchenko in the first round and backed that up with a solid win over Galina Voskoboeva, 6-4 6-4.  Oprandi has had a great week so far with straight set wins over two very competent players in Kiki Bertens and Peng Shuai.  I think this will be a tight match with both playing reasonably well at the minute and comfortable on the clay.  Kuznetsova leads the head-to-head by 3 wins to 0 although they haven't played since 2007.  Both have a tendency to get tight in close situations, but I think Kuznetsova will stick around for longer and get the W...

Prediction - Kuznetsova to beat Oprandi in 3 sets

Elena Vesnina v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

The top half has a distinctively Russian feel as Elena Vesnina and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova meet in an all-seeded second quarter.  Vesnina recovered deficits in both sets to beat the tricky Monica Niculescu, 6-4 6-4.  Pavlyuchenkova has had a very good week because she has managed to win two matches in straight sets! Neither were that straightforward, but she got the job done and is always at her most dangerous in the latter stages of tournaments.  Pavlyuchenkova leads the head-to-head, but both their previous matches have gone to three sets; their last was an epic final in Istanbul where Vesnina blew a huge lead to allow Nastia to win the title.  I like Pavlyuchenkova's chances this week and under the watchful gaze of Martina Hingis, things appear to be on the way up following a tough couple of months...

Prediction - Pavlyuchenkova to beat Vesnina in 2 tight sets

Best of the rest: womens quarter-final predictions

Carla Suarez Navarro to beat Monica Puig in 2 tight sets

Kaia Kanepi to beat Ayumi Morita in 2 sets 

Best of the rest: ATP Munich 2nd round predictions
Mayer to beat Matosevic in 2 tight sets
Haas to beat Gulbis in 3 sets *interesting match!*
Tipsarevic to beat Zemlja in 2 tight sets
Brands to beat Monfils in 3 sets
   
The rest of the second round predictions for ATP Oeiras can be found on yesterday's post.