Naomi Osaka and Donna Vekic are going to clash today in the quarterfinal of the Stuttgart Open 2019 on Thursday as the second match on Center Court. They are expected to start at 3.30pm.
Naomi Osaka
The world no.1 Naomi Osaka is not comfortable playing on clay and she is candid about her fear of getting injured while playing on the surface: “Every other court I have more experience than I have on clay because honestly, every time I come here I get injured. I’m hoping that won’t happen this year, but the last two times it’s been rough. Every clay season I missed out on at least one tournament, so honestly, my main goal is not to get injured and just ride it up until French Open.”
Naomi feels that the bounce on clay is different and she is unable to cope up with it. She is practicing and hopes to improve her performances on clay. In her 4 career titles, Naomi is still to win a tournament on clay.
The Japanese reached the quarters after dismissing the world no.24 Su-Wei Hsieh 6-4 6-3.
WTA STUTTGART. Naomi Osaka retains her world no.1 rank after beating Hsieh
Donna Vekic
Donna Vekic won her previous match in straight sets against Daria Kasatkina 6-1 7-5. Before this Vekic impressed in the WTA Mexican Open where she defeated Johanna Konta 6-3 7-5 to reach the semifinals of the tournament. Donna has 14-7 win-loss record in 2019. She has played twice on clay this year and won both the time.
H2H Naomi Osaka vs. Donna Vekic
The head to head between Naomi and Donna is 1-0 since the Japanese superstar beat her in the Australian Open 1st round 6-3 6-2. The Croatian has impressed with her performances this season but she is now up against the World No.1 and this is certainly not going to be easy or her. The Japanese is the hot favourite to win the quarterfinals.
According to bet365, Osaka is the favorite to win the match. See quotes and live streaming (only selected countries - USA excluded, but coming soon)
