Elina Svitolina vs Ons Jabeur Prediction & Betting Tips - Chicago 2, USA, Qualifying

Prediction published on 30/09/2021, 17:38  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 01/10/2021 at 09:17 in Tennis Predictions

Elina Svitolina is the top seed for the Chicago Fall Tennis Classic. The world number six takes on sixth seeded Ons Jabeur for a place in the semi-final. Svitolina has already had success in Chicago this year. The Ukranian won the Chicago Women's Open in August, beating Alize Cornet in the final. That was followed by a run to the last eight of the US Open, where she was the one of the top players beaten by Leylah Fernandez. This week has seen her play her first event since that Grand Slam. Wins have come against Amanda Anisimova and Elena-Gabriela Ruse, both without dropping a set. Svitolina will be looking to maintain her 100% record against Ons Jabeur. All three previous meetings have been won by Svitolina but their most recent match was two years ago. Before that, their other two meetings were in 2012 and 2017.

Ons Jabeur began this week ranked 16th which is a rise of 15 places since the start of the year. One title has been won by the Tunisian in 2021, a victory at the Birmingham grass court tournament in June. Her last four tournaments have seen her fail to get to the last eight, so this is a return to form for the player who was born within a month of her opponent. This week has seen Jabeur beat Hsieh Su-wei for the loss of just one game. It was a lot tougher in the third round as she had to go to three sets to beat Jessica Pegula. A slow start was made with the first set lost 6-1. That can't happen in this match. Go for Svitolina to win and set up a semi-final against either Belinda Bencic or Elena Rybakina.