Heather Watson vs Donna Vekić Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Birmingham

Prediction published on 18/06/2021, 06:29  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 18/06/2021 at 07:35 in Tennis Predictions

Heather Watson is the world number 70 but the British player has made it to the last eight of the Birmingham Classic. She takes on Donna Vekic who is 54th in the world but has been as high as 19th. The 29-year-old has promised a lot in her career but never managed to fulfil it. Never has she got past the third round at Wimbledon or any Grand Slam, though she has won the mixed doubles title. It's been an inconsistent year for her and it's included a couple of bad losses to lower ranked British players. The year began with Watson ranked 58th in the world and in terms of points earned this year, the Brit was down at 118th at the start of this week. At one stage this year she won one match in six tournaments. This week has seen her get wins over Viktorija Golubis and then victory over Zhang Shui who retired in the first set.

Watson has played Vekic twice in the past with the scores level at 1-1. Watson's win was achieved in Hobart three years ago, avenging a 2015 defeat. Vekic has had an injury-interrupted year as she needed knee surgery. That explains why she'd only played nine matches before the start of this tournament. This week didn't start well for her as her ranking slipped 14 places. Points that had been earned when getting to the fourth round at Roland Garros two years ago are no longer included, so down the rankings she went. 2021 had started promisingly with a run to the last sixteen in 2021. Her first grass court event was in Nottingham last week and again a last sixteen place  was achieved. Her grass court record includes a fourth round at Wimbledon in 2018, better than Watson has managed. The Nottingham tournament was won four years ago and in 2013 she reached the final of this event. This week has seen her beat Francesca Jones in the first round and then Camila Giorgi in three sets. Back her to get the win over Watson.