Elena Rybakina
Jelena Ostapenko will take on seventh seed Elena Rybakina in the semi-finals of the Italian Open
Elena Rybakina is one of the most in-form players on the WTA tour at the moment. She has made the finals of two tournaments so far this year – the Australian Open and the Miami Open besides winning the Indian Wells Masters. However, there has been a dip in her form of late.
She came to Rome following a shocking first-round exit from the Madrid Open last month but has redeemed herself at the Italian Open.
Rybakina is seeded No.7 at this tournament and received a ‘Bye’ in the first round due to her superior ranking. She got the better of Jasmine Paolini in her opening encounter and then received a walkover mid-way through her next match against Anna Kalinskaya. In the Round of 16, the seventh seed beat Marketa Vondrousova 6-3, 6-3 to set up a quarter-final clash against Swiatek. The encounter was turning out to be a thriller after both players won one set each but Swiatek had to withdraw mid-way through the third set, giving Rybakina a walk over. The Russian will now have her eyes set on winning the 2nd title of the year.
Jelena Ostapenko is doing well in both singles and doubles on the WTA tour. She is currently ranked World No.20 in singles and No.9 in doubles. Earlier this year, she reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open and scripted history by becoming the first female Latvian player to reach that stage at the Grand Slam down under. She has maintained her consistency and been very impressive so far at the Italian Open.
Ostapenko’s stand out results in Rome have come in the second and third rounds. She defeated 10th seed Barbora Krejcikova 7-6, 6-0 before pulling off another upset against 8th seed Daria Kasatkina in the next round. These wins will certainly act as confidence boosters for her going into this high-voltage match against Rybakina.
Date – Friday, 19th May
Court Type – Clay outdoor surface
Telecast – Tennis Channel
Start Time – 10:30 pm IST
Location – Foro Italico
Match details – Semi-final
Rybakina and Ostapenko have played each other thrice before on the WTA Tour. Ostapenko has the upper hand, having won two of the previous three encounters and thereby leads 2-1 head to head. Their last encounter was played earlier this year and it was the Kazakhstan star who emerged victorious. It’s a difficult match to call as both players are in good form and have similar playing styles. We are predicting an intense encounter with Rybakina eventually coming out on top in three sets.
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