WTA Baku – Friday Preview

Kateryna Bondarenko vs. Mariya Koryttseva

Kateryna Bondarenko is set to meet Mariya Koryttseva on Friday in the quarter-finals of the Baku Cup 2011.
Kateryna Bondarenko is in great form here in Azerbaijan, and she continued her campaign in the Baku Cup 2011 on Thursday by beating fourth seed Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4. Bondarenko isn’t seeded for this competition, though it’s beginning to look like she could be a serious contender for the title. Her next matchup will be a quarter-final contest against Mariya Koryttseva of the Ukraine. Koryttseva is also unseeded this week, but she’s worked her way through to the last eight. She produced an assured performance in round two to defeat Anastasiya Yakimova (6-2, 7-5), and she could give Bondarenko a real run for her money.

This will be Bondarenko’s first competitive match against Koryttseva, and she will enter the contest as the favourite. She is ranked ninety places above Koryttseva, and she’s in better form than the world No. 165. Despite this, there have been plenty of surprises this week, and Bondarenko will need to work hard to avoid an upset.

Ksenia Pervak vs. Aravane Rezai

Ksenia Pervak will meet Aravane Rezai on Friday in the quarter-finals of the Baku Cup 2011.
Seventh seed Ksenia Pervak is on course to challenge for the Baku Cup 2011 title, and she maintained her run here in Azerbaijan on Wednesday by beating Vesna Dolonts in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. The Russian is now in the quarter-finals, and on current form is in a good position to claim the first WTA title of her career.
Pervak’s next challenge will be a quarter-final clash against Aravane Rezai of France. Rezai’s position in the world rankings has plummeted this season, and she could really benefit from a good run here in Baku. She seemed to be playing well in round two, where she claimed a 6-3, 1-0 retirement victory over third seed Elena Vesnina. She could yet prove to be a contender to win this week’s tournament.
Pervak has never previously met Rezai in WTA competition, though she’ll enter this matchup as the favourite. Rezai has more experience at this level, but her form this season has been erratic. This contest could go either way, but unless Rezai can reverse her current run of results Pervak will earn a berth in the final four.

Vera Zvonareva vs. Anna Tatishvili

Vera Zvonareva will take on Anna Tatishvili for a place in the final four of the Baku Cup 2011.
Vera Zvonareva is the top seed this week in Azerbaijan, and she appears to be in the right kind of form to win this week’s WTA Baku Open. She played superbly in round two against Kristina Kucova of Slovakia, and she was 6-0, 3-0 up before Kucova retired. If she can maintain this level of play, Zvonareva will be very difficult to stop here.
Zvonareva will now meet Anna Tatishvili in the quarter-finals. Tatishvili was pitted against lucky loser Tatia Mikadze in the second round, and managed to clinch a 7-6(4), 6-3 victory to earn a berth on the last eight. Tatishvili isn’t seeded, but she’ll be eager to test Zvonareva seeing as a place in the semi-finals is at stake.
Zvonareva has never previously met Tatishvili in WTA competition, but as the world No. 3 she’ll enter this match as the clear favourite. She won over 30 matches this season, and she should be able to get past the Georgian on Friday. That said, Tatishvili has also played well in 2011, and this could be a tense encounter.