Emiliana Arango vs Maria Sakkari Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Mérida

Prediction published on 21/09/2023, 07:35  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 21/09/2023 at 08:32 in Tennis Predictions

Second seed Maria Sakkari faces unseeded Emiliana Arango in the last eight of the Guadalajara Open Akron. The winner will take on either the third seed Caroline Garcia or tenth seed Victoria Azarenka. Sakkari began this tournament ranked ninth in the world and is still chasing her first title of the year. This may well be the week because if the Greek player can reach the final, an unseeded opponent will be faced. The 28-year-old can move up to eighth if winning this match and reaching the final will see her back in sixth place. This is her second successive quarter final, having got to this stage in San Diego last week. In Guadalajara, Sakkari beat Storm Hunter and Camila Giorgi in straight sets, losing only ten games. Winning this title will take her up to ninth in the Live WTA Race and greatly improve her chance of making it into the end-of-season tour finals.

Emiliana Arango is in her first WTA Tour quarter final. Ranked 180th at the start of this tournament, the Colombian is up to 120th in the live rankings, a rise of 60 places this week. The 22-year-old reached the last 16 in three successive hard court events but then failed to qualify for the main draw of the US Open. This week began with her beating 11th seed Anastasia Potapova in straight sets. Another good win came against Sloane Stephens, dropping only three games. It was tougher in the last 16 as she needed three sets to get past Taylor Townsend. This will be even harder for Arango and we go for Sakkari to win in straight sets.