Aryna Sabalenka is cruising through the 2024 Australian Open draw, but how tricky is the upcoming match with Barbora Krejcikova?
The Belarusian won the season's first major tournament last year, which is still her greatest career moment. She's trying to add a second one to her tally after missing out at the 2023 US Open.
Considering how she's been playing lately, getting there seems probable, as she smashed everybody so far at the event. Regarding Krejcikova, she's also put some work in, beating Mirra Andreeva 4-6 6-3 6-2 to find herself in the quarterfinal.
It's been a complicated event for her as three of her four matches went the distance, but she's in there and fighting. It's an interesting matchup on paper between two players who play somewhat similarly.
It's just that Sabalenka generates far more power. Expect a lot of hitting in this one, a lot of winners, and quite a few unforced errors.
Head-to-head:
There have been six matches so far between them on the WTA Tour-level, and Sabalenka has largely dominated it. She leads the H2H 5-1, with the only match she's ever lost to Krejcikova being in Dubai last year.
That was a crazy event for Krejcikova as she bested everybody, including Iga Swiatek, in the final 6-4 6-2. It's one of those weeks for her when everything clicks, and she's borderline unplayable. All the other matches were pretty solid wins for Sabalenka, including the most recent one in Stuttgart, 6-2, 6-3.
| Barbora Krejcikova | Aryna Sabalenka | |
| 1 | H2H | 5 |
| 11 | Rank | 2 |
| 28 | Age | 25 |
| 371-208 | 2024 W/L | 364-175 |
| 4-1 | Career W/L | 8-1 |
Prediction:
Krejcikova has a quarter-final here, so she likes to play in Melbourne, but nobody likes to play in Melbourne as much as Sabalenka does.
She's looked better than anybody so far at the event, and I expect that to continue. She'll most likely win this one and advance to the semi-final.
Prediction: Aryna Sabalenka to win in three sets.
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