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WTA San Diego Final Prediction: Marta Kostyuk vs Katie Boulter

Originally posted on Last Word On Sports
By Jordan Reynolds | Last updated 3/2/24

It promises to be a superb final at the WTA San Diego Open. Australian Open quarterfinalist Marta Kostyuk battles Katie Boulter for the title. Both players are seeking to win their first WTA 500 title. As always, we at LWOT give our prediction and analysis. But which player do you think will reign supreme in San Diego?

WTA San Diego Final Prediction

Marta Kostyuk vs Katie Boulter

Head-to-head: First meeting

This has been a huge breakthrough week for Boulter. That is not just because of the achievement of making the final, but due to the players she has beaten. After ousting Lesia Tsurenko, Boulter defeated rel=”noopener” target=”_blank”WTA Elite Trophy winner Beatriz Haddad Maia, Donna Vekic and this year’s title winner in Hobart Emma Navarro. Kostyuk was not at her best in her opening match against Ann Li. However, after beating Taylah Preston and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, she played amazingly to triumph against Canadian Open Masters champion Jessica Pegula in the WTA San Diego Open semifinal.

It is a hard final to call. Both players have quite similar styles. Each bases their game on being as aggressive as they can from the baseline and dominating. It will be interesting to see how Boulter manages against a player who can match her impressive power at the WTA San Diego Open. She thrived against the gritty styles of Haddad Maia and Navarro, while Vekic was far below her best in their contest. Kostyuk’s equally hard-hitting is a different problem for her to solve.

Overall, Kostyuk is a slight favourite to win the title at the WTA San Diego Open. She won 12 of the last 14 games in the semfinal against the No. 1 seed Pegula. Although Boulter has been so impressive during the tournament, I still think Kostyuk’s best level is the better of the two. It is not guaranteed that she will find that quality, and the Ukrainian is a notoriously fiery and volatile personality on-court. But the confidence from that triumph against Pegula might carry her to victory again.
Prediction: Kostyuk in 2

This article first appeared on Last Word On Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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