Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the WTA Cincinnati match.
Clara Tauson, ranked 15th in the world, has already proven she can take down top-level opponents. Veronika Kudermetova has opened her Cincinnati campaign with back-to-back straight-sets wins, but lately has struggled to find success against the elite tier of players.
Clara Tauson
Tauson comes into this clash in excellent form. In Montreal, she claimed standout victories over Iga Swiatek and Madison Keys, falling only in the semi-finals to Naomi Osaka. In Cincinnati, the Dane began with a testing but high-quality match against Ajla Tomljanovic. Across two and a half hours on court, Clara delivered 14 aces, won 80% of points on her first serve and 61% on her second, surrendering serve just once.
Veronika Kudermetova
Kudermetova, despite convincing wins over Suzan Lamens and Belinda Bencic to start this tournament, has long found it difficult to beat top-20 opposition. She has lost eight of her last ten such encounters. This year alone, Veronika has played 17 tournaments and gone beyond the third round only at the Australian Open. On hard courts, she has suffered ten defeats in 27 matches this season.
Clara Tauson vs Veronika Kudermetova Prediction
With Tauson’s powerful serve, her strong record against opponents outside the top 20, and Kudermetova’s ongoing struggles in big-match situations, the Dane looks well placed to take this one comfortably.
