Elena Rybakina touched down in Tokyo ahead of the 2023 Japan Open, and she's excited to return to the courts.
Rybakina didn't have the best time in recent events, though her motivation is high, and she has good memories of Tokyo. She played at the Olympics a few years ago, making a deep run and almost getting a medal. This time around, she hopes to get her hands on some silverware.
Elena Rybakina expected a bye in the opening round of the Tokyo, but she won't get it due to the WTA testing 'performance byes' which the Kazakhstani is not a fan of. She should have gotten a bye but won't due to a rule change.
Her opponent, though, is Linda Noskova, a really tough player to play against, especially on hard courts. Noskova has a really heavy game with strong baseline play, but she's going to play against probably the heaviest baseline game we have on the WTA Tour.
Head-to-head:
Noskova didn't deal with Rybakina the last time they played. It was back at Roland Garros, and Rybakina actually won in two sets 6-3 6-3. Noskova tried to impose herself, but she couldn't do anything against Rybakina, who was too strong from the baseline.
She faces a similar thing in Tokyo, though this time around, she'll need to deal with the serve as well.
Prediction:
Rybakina has all the weapons needed to win this match. I expect her to do that. She won on clay and she's ll certainly be closer to winning on hard courts because she's the most natural fit on that type of surface.
She's also quite motivated and should be even more after the event forced her to play the first round. Noskova is solid and will try some things but she can't really hang from the baseline.
Prediction: Elena Rybakina to win in two sets.
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