Last Updated on October 30, 2021
Of the six tennis players in the top 10 at the WTA 1000 tournament in Montreal, only two continue to fight for the trophy, Aryna Sabalenka and Karolina Pliskova. Elina Svitolina, Bianca Andreescu, Garbine Muguruza and Simona Halep finished their National Bank Open performances.
We can expect very interesting matches in the quarterfinals. First the Belarusian Azarenka and Sabalenka, second the second match of the season Giorgi and Gauff, the other matches also promise to be very interesting. Let’s take a closer look at the quarterfinal pairs.
Aryna Sabalenka vs Victoria Azarenka
Head-to-head: Sabalenka 2-1 Azarenka
At this tournament, Sabalenka won two victories, although her opponents were not the strongest. In the first match Arina managed to break the resistance of Sloane Stephens (7-6, 4-6, 6-4), and in the second match she took home Rebecca Marino (6-1, 6-3).
Despite the wins, the Belarussian didn’t play her best. It seems that Sabalenka is not quite ready for this competition, because she made too many mistakes. For example, in two matches she managed to make 18 double faults. In addition, she won too few balls on her second serve.
✅ Second Top 20 win of 2021
Victoria Azarenka fights past Sakkari 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2) to reach the quarterfinals in Montreal #USOpenSeries | @vika7 pic.twitter.com/jzp4Gi5Ebk
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 12, 2021
Azarenka looked much more confident in her first match in Montreal than Sabalenka. In that game Victoria left no chance for Sorana Cîrstea (6-2, 6-2). In the quarterfinal match she had to stay on the court longer. Sakkari put up a good fight and Azarenka won in three games (6-4, 3-6, 7-6).
Victoria had a lot of mistakes as well. But she made fewer mistakes than Sabalenka. For example, Azarenka had only eight double faults in two games.
Azarenka made fewer mistakes in the first two games. Moreover, her opponent was much stronger than Sobolenko. It looks like Aryna is in a bit of a crisis, so she looks quite tough in Montreal.
In face-to-face matches Victoria Azarenka is also ahead. Despite the defeat in the last match, Victoria leads 2-1. We think that the chances of the experienced Belarusian are not that bad, so we suggest to prefer her.
Our prediction: Victoria Azarenka will win in three sets
Karolina Pliskova vs Sara Sorribes Tormo
Head-to-head: Pliskova 1-0 Sorribes Tormo
Pliskova did not perform well at the Olympics. Karolina failed at the Olympics, losing in the third round to Camila Giorgi (4-6, 2-6). The Czech representative was probably not ready for Japan because she had done much better at Wimbledon and even reached the semifinals of the Majors.
In Montreal, Karolina is doing much better. In the first round she defeated Donna Vekic (4-6, 6-3, 7-6). In the second round she defeated Amanda Anisimova (6-1, 7-6).
Sorribes Tormo, like Pliskova, reached the third round at the Olympics. After defeating Ash Barty and Fiona Ferro, she lost to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (1-6, 3-6).
In Montreal, the Spaniard started winning again. In her first two matches in Canada, she did not lose a single game, beating Canada’s Zhao (6-2, 6-3) and Russia’s Samsonova (6-4, 6-3). The hardest match for her was the last one. She had to play three sets (6-7, 6-0, 6-3) to beat Katerina Siniakova.
Despite some problems in separate matches, we propose to give Plisková the preference. Karolina has a great experience playing at the highest level, so she knows how to tune up for important matches. Now it is just such a case, because the Czech can reach the semifinals of the competition.
In 2017, Pliskova defeated Sorribes Tormo on the hard court, giving her opponent only two games. It is possible that now something similar will happen.
Our prediction: Karolina Pliskova will win in two sets
Camila Giorgi vs Coco Gauff
Head-to-head: Gauff 1-0 Giorgi
Giorgi showed a great game at the Olympics, because in Tokyo she even defeated Karolina Pliskova. However, she did not fight for a medal as she was defeated by Elina Svitolina (4-6, 4-6) in the quarterfinals.
It seems that Camila was aware of her mistakes as she seemed to do much better in Montreal. She deservedly made the quarterfinals of the competition, beating Elise Mertens (7-5, 6-3), Nadia Podoroska (6-4, 6-2) and Petra Kvitova (6-4, 6-4).
Coco Gauff has been very lucky in this competition, as she made it to the quarterfinals almost without a fight. The American only played a complete match when she defeated Anastasia Sevastova (6-1, 6-4) in the first round. She did not finish her second match. Cory beat Anastasia Potapova 5-0, so the Russian refused to continue.
In the 1/8 finals, Hauff was to meet Johanna Konta, but the British did not show up. The American retained her strength, which will no doubt come in handy in her next match.
On this year’s clay court event, Gauff beat Camila Giorgi with confidence. That time the American only let her opponent take five games. This time probably it won’t be such a disaster, but I doubt that Camila will be able to beat Corey.
The U.S. representative is too good now, so she has to go to the next round.
Our prediction: Coco Gauff will win in two sets
Ons Jabeur vs Jessica Pegula
All of Pegula’s big successes this season have been on the court. Jessica was in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open earlier this year and also played in the semi-finals of Doha. She won a total of 19 of 26 matches on this surface in 2021.
Pegula began her performances in Montreal with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Anett Kontaveit. In the second and third rounds, Jessica was only able to defeat her difficult opponents in three sets.
Ons Jaber has shown quality play throughout the playing season. Tunisian recently won her first WTA Tour trophy and had an incredible performance at Wimbledon, reaching the quarterfinals, but was stopped there by Aryna Sabalenka
In Montreal, Ons easily handled her opponent Clara Burel in the first round. In the next rounds Kasatkina and Andreescu did not offer proper resistance and Jaber was able to defeat them in three sets.
Ons was more confident on her way to the quarterfinals, but her opponents didn’t offer much resistance. At the same time Jessica stopped two competitors who were in great shape. It’s not easy to choose between the two, but our vote goes to the American
Our prediction: Jessica Pegula will win in two sets
