Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Arantxa Rus Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Rouen

Prediction published on 17/04/2024, 05:43  by Ian John | Modified on 18/04/2024 at 00:35 in Tennis Predictions

Top seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova faces unseeded Arantxa Rus in the second round in the WTA Rouen 250. The in-form Russian (18-9 in 2024) was entirely dominant in her first round game, defeating Wild Card entrant Alice Robbe 6-2, 6-2. She has twice been a semi-finalist in tournaments this year, first in Linz and then in Doha, as well as reaching the quarterfinals in San Diego. Pavlyuchenkova has recorded several wins against higher ranked opponents this season, with wins over Beatriz Haddad Maia (twice), Danielle Collins, Marta Kostyuk, Daria Kasatkina, Elise Mertens, Marketa Vondrousova and Donna Vekic since January 1st. A return to clay for this tournament won't faze the 2021 French Open runner-up, although that remains her last appearance in a tournament final.

Her opponent is Dutch lefty Arantxa Rus who has found life on tour a struggle this season. Rus has won just two of her last ten matches, the last being her first round 6-3, 6-1 win over qualifier Robin Montgomery in Rouen. Rus has a record of eight wins and 11 defeats on the season so far. A clay court specialist, Rus' successes have tended to come on the Challenger Tour (32 tournament victories), the last four of which have all been on her preferred surface. However, she has just one WTA tour title win in her career and has found the step up in quality this year on the main tour difficulty. She is ranked 27 places below her opponent in the Live WTA Rankings. The winner of this tie will go on to face either Poland's Magda Linette or Serbian qualifier Natalija Stevanovic in the quarterfinals.