Slovenia Open 2022: Elena Rybakina vs Ana Bogdan – Preview, Head-to-Head, and Prediction

Published by

2 years ago

210731 -- TOKYO, July 31, 2021 -- Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan hits a return during the tennis women s singles bronze medal match against Elina Svitolina of Ukraine at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Olympische Spiele, Olympia, OS in Tokyo, Japan, on July 31, 2021. TOKYO2020JAPAN-TOKYO-OLY-TENNIS-WOMEN S SINGLES-BRONZE MEDAL DuxXiaoyi PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxCHN

The 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina locks horns with Romania veteran Ana Bogdan in the semifinals of the Slovenia Open.

Elena Rybakina

After shocking the world by winning Wimbledon, Rybakina didn’t have the rub of the green going her way in the next few tournaments. She lost in the first round at the Silicon Valley Classic and at the US Open. In the Canadian Open, she was ousted in the second round by Coco Gauff. At the Cincinnati Masters, she showed glimpses of her talent to reach the quarterfinals before being outplayed by Madison Keys.

So far at the Slovenia Open, Rybakina has looked more settled. After losing the first set of her first-round match against Laura Siegemund, the 23-year-old responded strongly to eventually win the match 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 7-6 (10-8). In the second round, she faced Tereza Martincova. Rybakina proved to be too hot to handle as she romped to a 6-4, 6-1 win. In the quarterfinal, she was set to face Lesia Tsurenko. However, the Ukrainian tennis pro withdrew prior to the match.

Ana Bogdan

The Romanian tennis pro began her year with a win in an ITF event in France. Bogdan put on a show at the Poland Open in July and reached the final without dropping a set. She eventually lost to an in-form Caroline Garcia in the final.

Ana Bogdan (Twitter)

At the Slovenia Open, Bogdan has won all her three matches till now in three sets. She has won the first set each time but allowed her opponents to crawl back into the match in the second set. The 29-year-old began with a win against Ajla Tomljanovic 7-5, 4-6, 6-1. In the second round, she defeated Tamara Zidansek 6-1, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1. The quarter-final match against Beatriz Haddad Maia was an interesting affair. Bogdan outclassed the Brazilian in the first set before the tables were emphatically turned by the No. 2 seed in the second set. Eventually, the former junior World No. 2 – Ana Bogdan won the match 6-1, 1-6, 7-5.