Beatriz Haddad Maia vs Petra Kvitová Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Eastbourne International

Prediction published on 23/06/2022, 15:32  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 23/06/2022 at 17:04 in Tennis Predictions

Another women's tournament and yet again the top seeds have struggled. None of the top seven seeds have made it to the last four and this semi-final sees 15th seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia face the 14th seed Petra Kvitova. The other semi-final sees 12th seeded Camila Giorgi up against the defending champion, eighth seed Jelena Ostapenko. The interesting player here is Maia who is on a winning streak that Iga Swiatek (beware everyone, she'll be back next week at Wimbledon) would be proud of. The Brazilian was ranked 65th in April but began this week 29th. The Brazilian has won consecutive tournaments in Nottingham and Birmingham and in the live rankings is 27th and can climb another two places if reaching the Eastbourne final. Wins this week have come against Kaia Kanepi (in three sets), Jodie Burrage and then a walkover due to the withdrawal of Lesia Tsurenko.

Petra Kvitova has not had the best of years to date. This is her first semi-final of the year and it's 11 years since her only final in Eastbourne. The Czech is a two-time Wimbledon champion but the last title was eight years ago and she's only reached the fourth round once since then. Her world ranking has slipped in the past year or so and Kvitova began this week in 31st place but this time last year was ranked 12th. This is only her second grass court tournament of the year. The other one was in Birmingham and she lost in her first match with it being Maia that beat her in straight sets. Better form has been shown this week, though it's not been the hardest of routes to this semi-final. Donna Vekic, Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart have been beaten with only Boulter taking a set off her. This is tougher and her opponent is full of confidence at present. Back Maia to get the win.