Wimbledon Women's Singles Day 6 Tips: Big names expected to dominate on Saturday

  • Published on
  • 3:00 min read
Sorana Cirstea faces Beatriz Haddad Maia on Saturday...

The women's singles at Wimbledon continues on Saturday, and with much to discuss, Dan Weston is back to preview the action...

  • Sabalenka back in action after Friday's struggles

  • High potential Andreeva faces Potapova

  • Haddad Maia with fitness doubts


Sabalenka tested as other contenders progress with ease

There were some superb clashes on Friday with three women's matches decided via a final set tie-break. The most epic was Lesia Tsurenko against Ana Bogdan, with Tsurenko winning it 20-18. There will have been few more expensive netted drop-shots than Bogdan's to lose the match.

While most top players progressed, including tournament favourite Iga Swiatek, Petra Kvitova, Ons Jabeur and Jessica Pegula, and so did Aryna Sabalenka albeit needing to fight back from a set and 5-4 down against Varvara Gracheva.

Saturday schedule dominated by heavy favourites

Sabalenka is back in action on Saturday against Anna Blinkova, and is one of the short-priced favourites on the schedule. Joining Sabalenka as heavy pre-match favourites are Petra Kvitova, Elena Rybakina and Ekaterina Alexandrova. Ons Jabeur, at 1.3130/100, is slightly bigger-priced against Bianca Andreescu, while Madison Keys is similarly priced for her meeting with Marta Kostyuk.

Unfortunately, this doesn't leave an abundance of matches to choose from on day six in terms of competitive clashes. Two matches fit the bill in that respect.

Andreeva tough to price currently

Given Mirra Andreeva's high potential but lack of grass court experience, and data, pricing her matches up is pretty difficult right now. The Exchange has her as a 2.206/5 underdog against Anastasia Potapova, and a clash against the 22nd seed should give us a decent idea of where Andreeva is at on grass currently.

Andreeva got past Barbora Krejcikova in the previous round, but was tested by Xiyu Wang in round one, winning 7-5 in a decider. Potapova is yet to drop a set in the event, and while this is a match best watched, it should be well worth doing so.

Haddad Maia yet to convince on the fitness front

The other match with two players around even money is Beatriz Haddad Maia against Sorana Cirstea. Both players have needed three sets to win their matches so far, although Cirstea's opponents have been tougher. Is this the event where Cirstea randomly gets to the latter stages, as she occasionally does in high profile tournaments?

I'm concerned about Haddad Maia's fitness, following retirement in Eastbourne and unimpressive performances so far here. However, on grass her serve numbers are far better than Cirstea, and if fit, the Brazilian should get the win here. If pushed, I'd lean towards Haddad Maia, but with those doubts in mind, it's tough to be too enthusiastic about her price of 1.804/5.

Discover the latest articles