WTA Beijing: 3rd Round Predictions

Julia Goerges

I must firstly point out that I think the scheduling in Beijing has been shocking! I hate it when two different rounds are played on the same day; for example, tomorrow we have two second round matches being played and four third round matches.  Victoria Azarenka is not scheduled for tomorrow, meanwhile the other three matches in her quarter are playing. Elena Vesnina who takes on Azarenka played her second round match on Monday and will now play her third round match on Thursday... ludicrous! Rant over, lets take a look at tomorrows matches :-)

1. Marion Bartoli v Julia Goerges

Julia Goerges has blown hot and cold of late, but today was a hot day as she weathered the errors and hit 39 winners to beat Sam Stosur, 7-6 4-7 7-5.  I actually thought Goerges would win (see yesterday's post) albeit in straight sets, but it was an impressive showing from the German number two.  She now takes on Marion Bartoli in the third round who has been making steady progress through the draw and enjoyed a straight sets win over Ayumi Morita today.  Bartoli and Goerges actually played in Tokyo last week where Bartoli prevailed, 6-2 7-5.  Goerges showed real fight today, which has been missing from her game lately but I still predict the same end result as in Toyko

Prediction - Bartoli to beat Goerges in 3 sets

2. Jelena Jankovic v Carla Suarez Navarro

It is refreshing to see Jelena Jankovic actually win tennis matches in 2012! Since Dallas, she has really tidied her game up and is taking full advantage of her draw opening up in Beijing.  Jankovic beat Monica Niculescu, 6-2 6-1 to set up a third round encounter with Carla Suarez Navarro.  The Spaniard took out a struggling, Petra Kvitova and will be a test for the Serbian.  They have played twice this year with Jankovic winning in straightforward fashion in Sydney, but Suarez Navarro turned the tables in Madrid with an epic three set win.  Jankovic seems to be much more stable now in her play compared to that ropey clay court season and I am backing her to make the quarter-finals...

Prediction - Jankovic to beat Suarez Navarro in 2 tight sets

3. Maria Sharapova v Sorana Cirstea

One of two second round matches to be concluded will see Maria Sharapova take on the crazy, Sorana Cirstea.  The Romanian is one of the prime examples of fearless ball bashing on the tour without any thought to where the tennis ball is actually going.  She can however catch fire and Sharapova will be aware of the threat she poses.  Cirstea beat Sofia Arvidsson, 6-2 6-3 in a consistent performance where she held all eight of her service games.  Once again, Sharapova was below her best against Simona Halep, but eventually had too much power as she won 7-5 7-5.  Sharapova and Cirstea have never met before, which will make this even more interesting...

Prediction - Sharapova to beat Cirstea in 3 sets

Best of the rest:

The winner of the match between Sharapova and Cirstea will take on the winner of the final second round match to be played between Ekaterina Makarova and Polona Hercog.  Agnieszka Radwanska will also take to the court again for her third round match with Lourdes Dominguez Lino and Ana Ivanovic, who saved match points in her last match against Varvara Lepchenko, plays Romina Oprandi.

Predictions:

Ekaterina Makarova to beat Polona Hercog in 2 sets

Agnieszka Radwanska to beat Lourdes Dominguez Lino in 2 sets
Ana Ivanovic to beat Romina Oprandi in 2 tight sets

You can view my full predictions for Beijing HERE