Qatar Open 2023, Day 4: Women's singles predictions ft. Jessica Pegula vs Beatriz Haddad Maia, Maria Sakkari vs Caroline Garcia

Day 4 of the 2023 Qatar Open will commence on Thursday with the women's singles quarterfinals taking place. World No. 1 Iga Swiatek has already booked her place in the semifinals of the WTA 500 tournament after her last-eight opponent Belinda Bencic withdrew shortly after beating Victoria Azarenka.

Second seed Jessica Pegula will face Beatriz Haddad Maia while third seed Caroline Garcia will lock horns with Maria Sakkari. Fourth seed Coco Gauff will take on eighth seed Veronika Kudermetova.

On that note, let's take a look at the predictions for the women's singles matches on Day 4 of the Qatar Open.

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#1. Jessica Pegula vs Beatriz Haddad Maia

Second seed Jessica Pegula will face Beatriz Haddad Maia in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open. It will be the very first meeting between the two.

Pegula received a bye to the second round of the Qatar Open due to her seeding and faced Jelena Ostapenko. The American cruised through the first set and won it 6-2 before the Latvian won the second set by the same scoreline. Pegula was a break down in the final set but bounced back to win it 7-5 and seal her place in the quarterfinals.

Haddad Maia started the tournament with a 7-6(6), 6-3 win over Paula Badosa and then beat sixth seed Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 7-6(7) to book her place in the quarterfinals.

Pegula has been in pretty good form for some time now, while Haddad Maia has also produced some fine tennis over the past few months. The American will enter the match as the favorite to win and should manage to beat the Brazilian to book her place in the semifinals.

Predicted Winner: Jessica Pegula

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#2. Coco Gauff vs Veronika Kudermetova

Fourth seed Coco Gauff will face eighth seed Veronika Kudermetova in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open. It will be the very first meeting between the two and while Gauff will be favored to win, Kudermetova is more than capable of giving her a run for her money.

The American has won 9 out of 10 matches so far this season, including winning the ASB Classic without dropping a single set. She received a bye to the second round of the Qatar Open because of her seeding and booked her place in the quarterfinals by beating Petra Kvitova 6-3, 7-6(6).

Kudermetova started the tournament with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5) win over Barbora Krejcikova and then beat Sofia Kenin 6-2, 7-5 to seal her place in the quarterfinals.

Gauff looks in good touch at the moment and while the Russian will most likely make things difficult for her, she should manage to get the win and reach the semifinals.

Predicted Winner: Coco Gauff

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Caroline Garcia vs Maria Sakkari

Maria Sakkari and Caroline Garcia will lock horns in what will be the most evenly-matched quarterfinal at the Qatar Open from a rankings point of view. It will be the fourth meeting between the two, with Garcia leading 3-0 in the head-to-head.

Their last meeting came in the semifinals of last season's WTA Finals where the Frenchwoman won 6-3, 6-2. Garcia entered the Qatar Open after losing to Alycia Parks in the Lyon Open final. The 29-year-old reached the quarterfinals following a hard-fought 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-4 win over Karolina Muchova in the second round.

Sakkari has won 10 out of 14 matches so far this season. She was seeded fifth at the Qatar Open and started the tournament with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win over Zheng Qinwen. The Greek then beat Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-3, 6-2 to book her place in the quarterfinals.

Garcia will no doubt be feeling the effects of her match against Muchova but she has a pretty good chance of winning the match, given her quality, her head-to-head record against Sakkari and the fact that the Greek often has lapses at the latter stages of tournaments.

Predicted Winner: Caroline Garcia