Elena Rybakina seems almost unbeatable right now. Still, this upcoming match against Jasmine Paolini at the 2024 Dubai Championships could be really tricky for her.
The Italian is a very interesting tennis player who can be incredibly tough from the baseline when she has 'one of those weeks.' It's not something that happens all the time, though, and that's why she's not a Top 10 player.
Rybakina is a Top 10 player, and she's shown a couple of times this year why. She has won two trophies, one of which was in Abu Dhabi recently. She played in the Qatar Open final last week as well but was beaten by the ever-amazing Iga Swiatek.
Still, the Kazakhstani is not so heavily favored in this match, and it's because of the history of the two.
Head-to-head:
The last time they played was last year in Cincinnati, and Paolini did win that match, but only because Rybakina retired in the second set. The Italian did give the Kazakhstani player a pretty good fight and was leading 5-2 in the second set when the match ended.
She's one of those players who can move Rybakina around, and that's the reason why she should be able to challenge her in their quarterfinal meeting.
If she can move her around a lot, then she can do some damage. The main problem for her is her serve because Rybakina will attack it relentlessly. That's how she won their match in Rome last year.
| Elena Rybakina | Jasmine Paolini | |
| 1 | H2H | 1 |
| 4 | Rank | 26 |
| 24 | Age | 28 |
| 15-3 | 2024 W/L | 4-5 |
| 304-135 | Career W/L | 349-255 |
Prediction:
While I do think that Paolini could make this interesting I don't think she can win. I don't feel confident in saying that so take Rybakina to win a closely contested match.
Prediction: Elena Rybakina to win in two sets.
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