The WTA Bad Homburg semifinals are here and it’s a talented line-up that’s about to battle for the title. Emma Navarro is stabilizing inside the Top 20, while Diana Shnaider keeps improving with every month. Donna Vekic is known for her grass-court pedigree and will have to take on Viktoriya Tomova, who has already secured her Top 50 debut. Who do you think will make the final?
WTA Bad Homburg Semifinal Predictions
Viktoriya Tomova vs Donna Vekic
Head-to-head: First meeting
The grass season is usually a happy hunting ground for Donna Vekic, who even picked up a title at Birmingham in 2017. She managed to score a win each in Hertogenbosch and Berlin before defeating Lucia Bronzetti and Ekaterina Alexandrova to make the Bad Homburg quarterfinals. The walkover she received from Katerina Siniakova should only help her be fresh for the last rounds of the event.
Viktoriya Tomova’s run is a bit more surprising, but the Bulgarian has quietly gone up the rankings this year and will debut in the Top 50 after Bad Homburg. It’s a great reward for surviving five match points against Anna Blinkova on Thursday. Now it’s time to keep up that sort of emotional high and it won’t be easy, especially with Vekic being such an expert grass-courter and just a much more aggressive ball-striker.
Prediction: Vekic in 2
Embed from Getty Images
Diana Shnaider vs Emma Navarro
Head-to-head: Shnaider 1-0
It’s only Emma Navarro’s second grass season but she was already in the Bad Homburg semifinals last year. The Top 20 American dropped her first set of the event to Caroline Wozniacki on Thursday, eventually making it through as the Dane retired at the start of the decider. It’s clear the 23-year-old feels quite comfortable on the grass despite her lack of experience and it sometimes brings out a bit more aggression from her than she usually goes for.
Diana Shnaider took her down in May in the final of a WTA 125 in Paris and the talented Russian will be trying to do the same here. She’s so much more erratic than Navarro, but might also possess a higher ceiling when she locks into her rhythm. The wins Shnaider has been getting this week have been top-notch and if she can keep up that level, maybe she can defeat the American again.
Prediction: Shnaider in 2
Main Photo Credit: Ray Acevedo-USA TODAY Sports