Jessica Pegula and Elina Svitolina will meet in the 2023 Citi Open quarterfinals, and it's expected to be a great match.
Thanks to being a top seed at the WTA 500 event, the American is one of the favourites in Washington, and she proved it in her second-round match against fellow compatriot Peyton Stearns.
On the other hand, Svitolina already had to play two matches, first beating Victoria Azarenka, and then recording her eighth career win against Daria Kasatkina to keep the perfect score against the Russian.
Now, the two players that could be possibly considered as the two biggest favourites at the event, in spite of the fact that the Ukrainian is unseeded, will meet in the quarterfinals, and only one can make it to the last four.
Prior to playing in Washington, both players competed at the 2023 Wimbledon, losing to the same player. First, Pegula lost in the quarterfinals to Marketa Vondrousova, and the eventual champion also defeated Svitolina in the semifinals. Now, the two players that lost to Vondrousova at Wimbledon are going to meet in Washington, and Pegula spoke about the match.
"Yeah, it's gonna be a different match probably than the previous times I have played her. I can just tell from watching her matches, yeah, I feel like she has a new perspective. So many things going on in her life."
"She's kind of come back and reset really nicely. She's been competing really, really well and playing, like, very fearless. It's definitely going to be, I think, different. Yeah, we'll see. It's going to be a tough match. She's been playing at a high level, and I feel like she hasn't really missed a beat much coming back."
Head-to-head:
In the past, Svitolina and Pegula met three times, with all of their meetings taking place back in 2021, and all being at quite significant tournaments. First, it was a first-round meeting at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Open, when the Ukrainian was the second seed and comfortably won in two sets, 6-4, 6-3.
But only a month later, Pegula already started showing her qualities when she stunned then-fifth-seeded Svitolina at the 2021 Australian Open, winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. A few months later, the American won also on home soil, this time in a commanding style, 6-1, 6-1.
Pegula leads H2H 2-1 against her unseeded opponent in Washington, having won the last two matches that they played, including one that was played in the United States of America, as the same country will host their fourth meeting on the WTA Tour.
Prediction:
Pegula is the top seed in Washington and she leads the head-to-head against Svitolina, however, the Ukrainian is possibly playing the tennis of her life, even though she returned to the WTA Tour only in April.
Svitolina won 15 of her last 18 matches, and quite often, she doesn't just win, she dominates. However, when she faces a solid matchup, the match often goes into three sets. On the other hand, Pegula seems to be able to deliver quite consistent results, she will certainly want to use the support of the home crowd.
Yet, Svitolina should be able to win this match if she will be able to play at the same level as she did in her opening two matches. But don't count Pegula out, the American should be able to take the match to three sets, but the winner of this close contest should be the Ukrainian.
Elina Svitolina to win in 3 sets.
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