Damien Kayat previews Veronika Kudermetova vs Victoria Azarenka and Jelena Ostapenko vs Sofia Kenin in selected Round of 16 matches of the Guadalajara Open Akron on the 20th and 21st of September 2023.
2023 WTA Tour
WTA 1000
Guadalajara Open AKRON
Panamerican Tennis Centre, Zapopan, Mexico (Outdoor Hardcourt)
Selected Round of 16 Matches – 20th-21st September
20th September
Jelena Ostapenko 46/100 | Sofia Kenin 6/4
This as all the ingredients to be an absolute cracker. Two former Grand Slam champions with different approaches to the game meet in what should be an absolutely epic round of 16 clash.
This has certainly been the most consistent all-court season in Ostapenko’s career. The 2017 French Open champion has been one of the most frustrating players to preview over the last five years. But she has become slightly more controlled this season and has found success on all surfaces.
She has reached Grand Slam quarterfinals at the Aussie and US Opens. That recent quarterfinal run at Flushing Meadows means she has now reached the quarters at every single Slam. She reached her first clay semifinal since winning the French Open in Rome.
And she won the Birmingham Classic on grass. She just breezed through Marta Kostyuk in straight-sets and she will be eyeing a victory this week to keep her WTA Finals chances alive.
The Sofia Kenin renaissance has begun. She is simply too good of a player to remain in the tennis doldrums forever. Her run to the final in last week’s San Diego Open marked the first time in nearly three years that she had reached a WTA final.
And she pushed a resolute Barbora Krejcikova all the way in a really pulsating three-set final. The result also helped propel her 40 places to number 53 in the world rankings.
And she has carried over that form into Guadalajara, easily overcoming Canadian qualifier Carol Zhao before a comfy straight-sets win over 12th seed Anhelina Kalinina. Kenin is starting to move like she did at her peak and it will be fascinating to see how she develops over the next six months or so.
Verdict: Kenin to win in three sets
Ostapenko leads Kenin 2-1 I their head-to-head matches. She actually thrashed the American when they last met in Dubai last year. But that was Kenin at her lowest possible ebb. Sure, Kenin may be feeling a tad jaded by her exertions in San Diego last week.
But I think she has a great chance of ‘surprising’ Ostapenko. They have a delicious clash of styles, with Ostapenko’s ultra-aggressive approach coming up against Kenin’s slightly more cagey style. But Kenin also has the capacity to hit winners (often from extremely defensive positions).
I just think she has greater variety and seems to be in a really good vein of form. Nine of Ostapenko’s last eleven matches have gone to three sets so I’m opting for the three-set Kenin win.
21st September
Veronika Kudermetova 6/5 | Victoria Azarenka 4/7
This looks set to be a true heavyweight round of 16 clash at this year’s Guadalajara Open. Veronika Kudermetvoa has really been so disappointing in this latter portion of the season.
The big-serving Russian enjoyed a magnificent breakthrough year in 2022, finishing the season ranked No.9 in singles while winning the WTA Finals doubles alongside Elise Mertens.
And the Russian seemed to have brought that juju into 2023, reaching four semi-finals leading into the French Open. This included incredible back-to-back semi-finals in WTA 1000 clay-court events (Madrid and Rome). She then showcased her all-court prowess with a run to the Rosmalen final.
But her form has been utterly awful since that final- she hasn’t progressed beyond the 2nd round of a tournament in her last five events. And you would have thought she would revel in this predominantly hardcourt section of the season.
And her arduous opening victory against wildcard Eugenie Bouchard hasn’t exactly reinvigorated my belief in the Russian.
I think it’s fair to say that this has been a pretty dispiriting campaign for two-time Major champion Victoria Azarenka. And it started off with so much promise.
The Belarusian reached the semi-final of the Aussie Open for the first time in a decade. But she just hasn’t managed to get anything going since losing to Rybakina in that Aussie Open semi-final. Sure, she did feature in that blockbuster 4th round loss to Svitolina at Wimbledon.
But other than that, it has been a pretty wretched campaign. Still, Azarenka- a five-time Grand Slam hardcourt finalist- has the inalienable ability to just deliver a big performance out of nowhere. She won her first title since 2016 at the Cincinnati Masters.
She then followed that up with a glorious run to the US Open final. She would reach the 2021 Indian Wells final despite little form. And she reached her first WTA-1000 semi-final of last year during the inaugural staging of this event.
She just saw off a spirited display by Yatsremska and she will be feeling quietly confident of reaching her first semi-final since Melbourne.
Verdict: Azarenka to win in straight-sets
Kudermetova has actually won both of their previous matches (the last of which being an epic three-set match at this year’s Adelaide 2 event). I just think Azarenka has that hardened WTA 1000 edge over her opponent this week.
Add that to the fact that Kudermetova has been pretty abysmal in recent weeks. The fact that she could barely get over the line against Eugenie Bouchard tells you something.
