Elena Rybakina (Twitter)
5th seed Coco Gauff locks horns with 9th seed Elena Rybakina in the round of 16 of the 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships on Wednesday.
The 18-year-old came into the tournament after being ousted in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open by Veronika Kudermetova.
Gauff, who won the ASB Classic in January, began her campaign in Dubai with a comfortable win against Aliaksandra Sasnovich. The one-sided clash ended 6-0, 6-4 in favor of the American youngster. The match ended in just 70 minutes. Gauff also benefitted from the 34 unforced errors made by Sasnovich.
The Kazakhstani No. 1 also came into the tournament after losing in the quarterfinals of the previous tournament she played. In the Abu Dhabi Open, Rybakina defeated Karolina Pliskova in the first round before going down to Beatriz Haddad Maia in the following round.
Rybakina faced Bianca Andreescu in the first round. The Canadian star was comprehensively beaten by Rybakina. The 23-year-old won the match 6-3, 6-4. She converted 4 out of 7 break points in the match. In the round of 32, Rybakina secured another relatively comfortable win against Marie Bouzkova 7-5, 6-2 to make it to the round of 16. The 2022 Wimbledon champion converted 4 out of 7 break points in the match.
Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina have faced each other once so far. The former defeated Rybakina in three sets 6-4, 6-7, 7-6.
Prediction: Elena Rybakina to win in three sets.
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