Saturday's Newport semifinal pits Mananchaya Sawangkaew against Tatjana Maria on grass. Tatjana Maria brings a 3-match winning streak into this one, 7-3 across the last ten. Mananchaya Sawangkaew brings a 3-match winning streak into this one, 6-4 across the last ten.
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. Sawangkaew comes in off a compressed schedule; Maria comes in off a compressed schedule. This one is close to a coin flip, and the lean toward Maria is exactly that — a lean.