Elena Rybakina will face Bianca Andreescu in the first round of the Dubai Tennis Championships. The match will start on February 20 at 16:30 UK time.
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #1 – Handicap (-5) for Andreescu – 1.77.
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #2 – Total Games Over 20 – 1.78.
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #3 – 1st Set Games Over 9.5 – 2.235.
Both players had a poor showing at previous tournaments and were off the tour for more than a week. In their only face-off a year ago at Wimbledon, Rybakina won a tight match with a score of 6-4, 7-6. We think she’ll be in for a fight today as well. Elena, apart from the Australian Open, has generally not had much to show for it since the beginning of the year and shouldn’t be overestimated.
In their only meeting, the two opponents played 23 games in two sets. Both have strong serve and are capable of a long match today.
Earlier this month, Elena played her first tournament since the Australian Open. Rybakina made it one round in Abu Dhabi, beating Karolina Pliskova (6-4, 6-2).
However, already in the next match against Beatriz Haddad-Maia (3-6, 6-3, 6-2), the finalist of the Australian Open lost.
In Melbourne, Rybakina had several great victories. For example, the 23-year-old defeated Iga Swiatek (6-4, 6-4) in the fourth round and Victoria Azarenka (7-6, 6-3) in the semi-finals.
In the 2020 season, Rybakina reached the final in Dubai. She lost in the decisive match to Simona Halep (6-3, 3-6, 6-7) of Romania. Rybakina missed these competitions last year, so now there is a good chance to win ranking points and solidify her place in the top 10.
Rybakina has won six of her last seven first-round matches.
Bianca, meanwhile, was unable to compete at the recent Qatar Open due to a shoulder injury.
Andreescu was injured earlier this month in a match against Lesia Tsurenko in the semi-final in Hua Hin.
Shortly afterwards, the Canadian went to Abu Dhabi where she immediately lost to Yulia Putintseva (6-7, 2-6). This match showed that the US Open-2019 champion needs a bit of a break.
In January, Bianca won one match each in Adelaide and at the Australian Open.
Andreescu has lost her last five consecutive matches when her opponent was a top-10 tennis player.
Type of Court – Hard
Speed of Court – 8/10
Elena Rybakina’s Rating – 10
Elena Rybakina Wins/Losses in 2023 – 8/4
Bianca Andreescu’s Rating – 36
Bianca Andreescu Wins/Losses in 2023 – 5/4
In Andreescu’s two previous matches, more than 10.5 games have been played in the first set. We offer to bet on “1st Set Games Over 9.5” with odds of 2.235.
Rybakina leads with a score of 1-0 in the head-to-head encounters. The only time they met was at Wimbledon in 2022. In that match, Rybakina defeated Andreescu (6-4, 7-6) in two sets.
The match will be played in Center Court, Aviation Club Tennis Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
We recommend checking out the odds for the Dubai Tennis Championships: Elena Rybakina vs Bianca Andreescu at 1xBet and VBET.