Elena Rybakina (Twitter)
The 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina begins her Tallinn Open campaign against the German veteran Laura Siegemund in the round of 32 on Sunday.
The 23-year-old had a strong start to the season, reaching the finals in Adelaide. She failed to impress in the next four tournaments before making it to the quarter-finals at the Indian Wells Masters. After the Indian Wells Masters, Rybakina could not reach the quarter-finals until Wimbledon came about. The Russian-born Kazakhstani star managed to stun some of the pre-tournament favorites to win her first major title.
Since the surreal triumph, Rybakina struggled with inconsistency. She looked good at the Slovenia Open and reached the final, where she lost to doubles No. 1 Katerina Siniakova. Fans expected Rybakina to build on her performance in Slovenia as she entered the Toray Pan Pacific Open. However, she lost to Liudmila Samsonova in straight sets in the first round.
The world No. 40 began 2022 with a run to the quarter-finals in an ITF event in Portugal. She won the doubles event at the Lyon Open but was ousted in the first round in singles. Siegemund’s best result in singles in a WTA tour-level tournament came at the Stuttgart Open, where she made it to the quarter-finals. She won a couple of ITF tournaments in Austria.
The 34-year-old is coming into the tournament on the back of two first-round exits at the US Open and the Slovenia Open. Interestingly, Siegemund was ousted by Elena Rybakina at the Slovenia Open in an immensely competitive match that could have gone either way.
Laura Siegemund has some catching up to do as Elena Rybakina leads 4-1 in the head-to-head scoreline.
Prediction: Elena Rybakina to win in three sets.
More Tennis news
Follow our dedicated Tennis page for instant Tennis news and updates