Aryna Sabalenka will take on former Italian Open champion Elina Svitolina in the battle for the quarter-final of the WTA 1000 event.
The Ukrainian has great memories of the Italian Open because she triumphed twice in the Italian capital. It's been a long time since then because it happened back-to-back in 2017 and 2018.
More recently, Svitolina wasn't able to go as deep, though she has a couple of quarter-finals to her name. Sabalenka's best result in Rome is the semi-final from two years ago, but she might just improve this year because she's playing amazing tennis.
Her tennis is improving with every match, and after the great week in Madrid, nobody is really doubting whether she can do it. Getting there will take her a few more wins, starting with this match against Svitolina.
Head-to-head:
Despite both competing on the Tour for years, the two fourth-round protagonists have only played three times so far. Sabalenka leads the H2H 2-1 thanks to winning their most recent match, which was played at last year's Roland Garros.
It came at a time when Svitolina was playing some really inspired tennis, and the Belarusian still won that match. The Ukrainian not playing as well this time around, so Sabalenka is obviously the favorite once more, but that's only part of it.
| Aryna Sabalenka | Elina Svitolina | |
| 2 | H2H | 1 |
| 2 | Rank | 19 |
| 26 | Age | 29 |
| 22-6 | 2024 W/L | 14-8 |
| 382-180 | Career W/L | 468-248 |
Prediction:
Svitolina can trouble Sabalenka in this match, but she probably doesn't have enough to win. The amount of power Sabalenka brings is far too much for the Ukrainian player, who doesn't have the same amount of power.
Her counter-punching skills will only take her so far against Sabalenka, who should be beaming with confidence.
Prediction: Aryna Sabalenka to win in two sets.
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