Coco Vandeweghe vs Petra Martic Tennis Prediction
Coco Vandeweghe began her grass season last week with a semifinal appearance at ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the tournament she won twice (2014 and 2016). She lost the semifinal match to the eventual champion Aleksandra Krunic, after wasting two match points (2-6 7-6 7-6).
The American has played at Birmingham six times in the past, with her best result here being a semifinal in 2016 (l. Strycova). Last year, she made as far as the quarterfinal at this event (l. #16 Muguruza) in the run-up to Wimbledon, where she also posted a last eight finish (l. Rybarikova).
Petra Martic, who debuted into the top 40 after posting a quarterfinal at Indian Wells in March (l. Halep), has failed to defend the first major chunk of points in 2018, the fourth round at French Open. Instead, she fell to Qiang Wang in the second round, 6-1 6-1, in just 53 minutes.
Last year, the Croat posted another fourth round at Wimbledon as a qualifier, defeating Daria Gavrilova, Zarina Diyas and Denisa Allertova en route. Martic is heading into the match with a 2-5 record against top 20 players this season (9-33 in career).
Martic seems to have come off the boil after the Indian Wells run, having gone 3-4 since then. Vandeweghe, with proven grass-court skills and sheer power, is expected to dismiss the Croat as they take on each other for the first time.
Tennis Prediction: Coco Vandeweghe
Odds: 1.42
