Dominika Cibulkova and Jelena Ostapenko took care of their respective business in the fourth round to book their own tickets to the quarterfinals. Only one can advance to the final four round, though. Who will it be? Read on for a preview and our prediction for this match below.
Cibulkova reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon for the third time in her career, thanks to a sensational and clinical 6-4, 6-1 win in the fourth round on Monday against Su-Wei Hsieh. Cibulkova has also yet to drop a set so far in the tournament, and she will look to extend that streak and her stay, of course, in London when she goes up against Ostapenko in the quarterfinals. The 29-year-old Slovakian put 72 percent of her first serves in against Hsieh and converted 54 percent of those into first serve points. She was also able to convert 7 of 12 break point chances. In addition to her terrific form so far, Cibulkova can also benefit, at least mentally, from the fact that she is 2-0 all-time against Ostapenko with one of those wins coming via grass match at Eastbourne back in 2016.
After a shaky start in her quarterfinals match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Ostapenko got her groove on and demolished her Belarusian opponent on her way to a 7-6 (7-4), 6-0 victory on Monday. Ostapenko seems to be unrattled by the pressure of playing at Wimbledon even though she’s just 21. Perhaps, her confidence is being boosted by a quarterfinals appearance a year ago in this same tournament. She’s also been performing well in the grass this year, as her victory over Sasnovich is her seventh on the said surface this year compared to only one loss. If there’s one glaring change Ostapenko will have to change soon, it’s cutting down on her errors. The Latvian recorded 28 winners in the fourth round, but had seven more unforced errors (15) than Sasnovich. Prior to that, he had 16 unforced errors in the third round against Vitalia Diatchenko.
Writer’s Prediction
Ostapenko gets her first career win against Cibulkova via three-set thriller of a match.
