Elena Rybakina played extremely well in Doha, and she hopes to keep her strong season going at the 2024 Dubai Championships, starting against Victoria Azarenka.
The Kazakhstani player loves to play in the Middle East because the conditions suit her game really well. She's been one of the best players this year, having two trophies to her name already.
Her tremendous level from Abu Dhabi carried over into Doha, but unfortunately for her, she lost in the final against Iga Swiatek. It's a very short turnaround to Dubai, where she'll hope to keep her good performances going.
Victoria Azarenka has other plans, as she has already one match under her belt at the WTA 1000 tournament in Dubai, so let's see who can actually come out on top in this very fascinating second-round matchup.
Head-to-head:
Rybakina and Azarenka played a couple of times already, with the Kazakhstani player coming out on top. She won both previous matches easily in straight sets, though it's been a while since the last meeting.
The last match was played in 2023 at the Australian Open, which was over a year ago. Since then, Rybakina has become an even better player, which she's shown this year with a couple of trophies already.
There are some things Azarenka can do to beat her in Dubai, but she's can get in trouble easily as well.
| Elena Rybakina | Victoria Azarenka | |
| 2 | H2H | 0 |
| 4 | Rank | 27 |
| 24 | Age | 34 |
| 15-3 | 2024 W/L | 9-3 |
| 304-135 | Career W/L | 185-73 |
Prediction:
Peak Azarenka was very well-versed in tackling players like Rybakina, but it's a bit different now. She still knows how to play these matches, but the likelihood of her doing that against this Rybakina, who is quite literally on fire right now, is very low.
There is a chance that Rybakina ends up struggling with fatigue, leaving a minor chance to Azarenka, but for the most part, I think she has a good chance of simply overwhelming her opponent and once again winning in straight sets.
Prediction: Elena Rybakina to win in two sets.
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