Pronostics pour Taylah Preston — Alina Korneeva

Taylah Preston faces Alina Korneeva in the Seoul quarterfinal on Friday, September 25, at 06:00 UTC. Korneeva is the higher-ranked player, but Preston’s week makes a wide margin of victory less certain than the line suggests.

Preston brings pressure; Korneeva brings patience

Preston followed a three-set opener with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Jelena Ostapenko, ranked 32nd. Ostapenko’s serving helped her, but Preston kept her own service games under control and pressed the advantage rather than waiting for more errors.

Korneeva has shown a higher ceiling on hard courts, notably with wins over Emma Navarro and Iva Jovic in Toronto. Her Seoul win over qualifier Darya Astakhova, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, was less even. She recovered well, though the middle set leaves Preston reason to expect chances on return.

Four and a half games leave Preston room to work

Korneeva gets plenty of returns back and can make Preston play another attacking shot. That is the chief risk for Preston: Taylor Townsend gave her little time to settle at the US Open, and Korneeva will look to deny her easy starts to points.

Korneeva is not, however, the same sort of imposing server. Preston has been applying return pressure in Seoul, and Korneeva’s uneven spell against Astakhova suggests this need not be settled in a hurry. A competitive straight-sets loss or any three-set match would be enough for Preston +4.5 games.