Games to watch on Day 4 of the WTA Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships: (x-denotes seed).
1-Elina Svitolina (UKR) v Naomi Osaka (JPN)
2pm, Centre Court
Svitolina had said pre-tournament that she wanted to be more consistent. If her second-round win over Qiang Wang is anything to go by the world No 4 still has some work to do as it took her three sets to see off the Chinese player. Osaka is a promising prospect but if Svitolina finds her range with her searing groundstrokes from the back of the court then she will be hard to stop.
Prediction: Svitolina in straight sets
3-Karolina Pliskova 3 (CZE) v 6-Angelique Kerber (GER)
Second match on Centre Court
Pliskova was honest enough to admit she did not play well in beating Carla Suarez Navarro on Wednesday. If she serves as badly as she did then against Kerber she will have no chance of reaching the semi-finals. Kerber is back to the sort of form that saw her win two majors and go to world No 1 in 2016 and she can keep her renaissance going here.
Prediction: Kerber in three sets
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Read more:
- WTA Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships: Angelique Kerber 'enjoying tennis' after racing into the second round
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5-Caroline Garcia (FRA) v 2-Garbine Muguruza (ESP)
Third match on Centre Court - not before 7pm
This will be a tough test for Muguruza, who faces being back on court on Thursday night having only left Centre Court at 1.50am in the morning after seeing off CiCi Bellis in straight sets. Garcia has been impressive in reaching the last eight and she showed good resolve in getting past Ekaterina Makanrova on Wednesday afternoon. Muguruza is 2-0 in career meetings with Garcia, having beaten her as recently as last week in Doha, and it will be a shock if she does not complete a hat-trick of wins.
Prediction: Muguruza in three sets
Daria Kasatkina (RUS) v Elena Vesnina (RUS)
Final match on Centre Court
A battle of the two remaining Russians in Dubai. Both come into the match after knocking out seeds. Vesnina was impressive in capitalising on the errors of fourth-seed Jelena Ostapenko, while Kasatkina showed plenty of endurance and mental strength in defeating seventh seed Johanna Konta. Kasatkina, 20, spent almost three hours on court in defeating the Briton. While it will be a test Kasatkina should still have too much for her compatriot Vesnina.
Prediction: Kasatkina in three sets