The Madrid women’s semifinals feature four top-10 stars with an intriguing variety of playing styles. Nick Nemeroff discusses who has the edge.

Petra Kvitova vs. Simona Halep

The only time that Halep and Kvitova have faced each other was in the New Haven final last August, a match that Halep won 6-2 6-2.

In reaching the semifinals of this Premier Mandatory event, Halep has recovered quite well after her second-round loss to Svetlana Kuznetsova in Stuttgart. Although she has yet to face a top-10 opponent in Madrid, she conquered a Grand Slam finalist and a Grand Slam champion in her last two matches by defeating Sabine Lisicki and Ana Ivanovic, respectively. Kvitova also will be pleased with her performance this week after she exited in the second round of Stuttgart as well. After taking down Lucie Safarova in the round of 16, Kvitova was given a free pass as Serena Williams was forced to withdraw from the tournament with a left thigh injury.

If Halep can execute her desired game plan, she might breeze through Kvitova much like she did in New Haven. Halep’s style of play is much more conducive to clay-court tennis, whereas Kvitova prefers to play on courts that facilitate her aggressive tendencies. Kvitova takes the ball flat and early, an objective that becomes increasingly difficult on clay with the higher bounces that the red dirt experiences. In addition, Halep’s baseline speed and retrieval capacity will make it a real test for Kvitova to penetrate her defensive barriers.

Halep has an extremely high tennis IQ, an attribute that serves her well on a surface that requires intelligent, patient point construction. Look for the Romanian to keep her groundstrokes out of Kvitova’s strike zone and keep Kvitova out of the center of the court.

Prediction: Halep in two sets

Maria Sharapova vs. Agnieszka Radwanska

The Russian has dominated Radwanska, the highest-ranked woman left in the tournament, leading the head-to-head 9-2. Sharapova also has won all three clay-court matches that these two have contested, including their most recent meeting in the Stuttgart quarterfinals two weeks ago.

Sharapova entered Madrid on the back of the Stuttgart title, where she defeated Ana Ivanovic in a tight three-set battle. Earlier this week, Sharapova was almost sent packing in the second round by American Christina McHale. McHale led 4-1 in the deciding set before Sharapova pounded her way through the final five games of the match. Sharapova also rallied from a set down in her quarterfinal against Li Na to win in three sets. Radwanska’s path to the semifinals has not been much easier. After barely scraping past Svetlana Kuznetsova in a third-set tiebreak in the second round, Radwanska struggled to survive qualifier Caroline Garcia in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Tactically speaking, Sharapova and Radwanska are polar opposites. Sharapova’s game is predicated on blowing opponents off the court with sheer power, whereas Radwanska favors destroying her opponent’s will with unrelenting craft and uncanny shot retrieval.

The neutralization skills that Radwanska possesses will be crucial in this match. If she is unable to defuse Sharapova’s authoritative groundstrokes with depth and pace, the Russian’s power from the baseline will be tough to overcome.

Look for Radwanska to throw in drop shots and slices, aiming to keep Sharapova out of optimal offensive positions. One area where Radwanska will be particularly vulnerable is her second serve. Sharapova will pounce and attack any short serve that Radwanska leaves hanging. Unless the Russian plays a clunker of a match, Radwanska will be facing an uphill battle.

Prediction: Sharapova in two sets