WTA Wuhan Open Semifinals Odds & Pick: Petra Kvitova vs Alison Riske

• Alison Riske has had an impressive run to make it to the Wuhan Open semifinal where she’ll be up against Petra Kvitova
• Kvitova has been playing out of her mind as she hasn’t even dropped a set thus far
• Does Riske continue her cinderella like run or does Kvitova bring home her second Wuhan Open title?

The Wuhan Open is coming to a close but not before what should be a close matchup in the semifinal between Petra Kvitova and Alison Riske.

If you are looking for a model of consistency, look no further than Petra Kvitova. She is currently ranked No. 7 in the world and was as high as No. 2 earlier this year. Since turning pro in 2006, Kvitova has steadily moved up the rankings. From 2011 onwards, she’s ranked at least sixth overall at some point in every year except for 2017, when her highest ranking was 11th. Along the way she has piled up the hardware winning numerous singles titles including two Grand Slams back in 2011 and 2014.

Petra Kvitova vs Alison Riske Odds

*Odds taken 9/26/19

Her 2019 campaign has been spectacular as she has compiled a ridiculous record consisting of 35 wins with just 11 defeats. During her run in the Wuhan Open, a tournament she has previously won back in 2016, she has been dominant against stiff competition.

?from @Petra_Kvitova #WuhanOpen pic.twitter.com/G6KEeZ8F79

— wta (@WTA) September 25, 2019

How’d They Get Here?

Kvitova started things off with a win over Polona Hercog in her opening match. Her following opponent, would pose a much more difficult test, or at least that was the original thought, but it only took Kvitova two sets to dispatch of former Grand Slam champion and current No. 15 player in the world, Sloane Stephens. It was another relatively easy match for Kvitova in the quarterfinal against Dayana Yastremska. In short, she has been otherworldly.

For as good as Kvitova has been during this run, Alison Riske has looked even better.

#AlisonRiske ? #WuhanOpen pic.twitter.com/46zxeRbJEE

— Bel21ve (@bel21ve_RF) September 26, 2019

With no first round bye afforded to her, Riske had to make her way to this stage the hard way. She lost the first set to both Kateryna Kozlova and Monica Puig before battling back to win both matches in the third set. She was a heavy underdog to No. 16 in the world Qiang Wang and an even bigger underdog to the third best player in the world Elina Svitolina. Riske would go on to defeat them both in straight sets.

For the third straight game, Riske will be an underdog, but should she be?

This will be the third time that these two have played each other, and the first since 2013.

Each player has claimed one victory in the series up to this point. With their last encounter coming six years ago, there isn’t really much of anything that we can peel away from that. Both have grown into tremendous players since that time.

Kvitova vs Riske

The two have been impressive, but Riske has faced slightly better competition along the way. Although it is difficult to differentiate between them, there is however, one thing that plays into the hands of Kvitova, and that would be the surface.

On the year Riske has won 20 matches on hard surfaces against 14 losses. More than respectable but it pales in comparison to what Kvitova has done as she won 24 matches with just eight defeats.

Best Bet

With such a close contest, the strength of Kvitova on this surface should go a big way towards her winning. Alison Riske has proven the oddsmakers wrong several times over in this tournament but her run will come to an end as Petra Kvitova will book her way to the Wuhan Open final.