Greet Minnen and Katie Volynets meet in the semifinal at Newport on Saturday. Katie Volynets is rolling — 4 straight wins, 6 of 10 in recent play. Greet Minnen is rolling — 3 straight wins, 7 of 10 in recent play.
The two have never played — a first meeting always adds a layer of uncertainty the numbers can't fully capture.
Neither the serve numbers nor the ratings separate these two by much, which is why our number stays close to even. Minnen comes in off a compressed schedule; Volynets comes in off a compressed schedule. This one is close to a coin flip, and the lean toward Volynets is exactly that — a lean.