Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Belinda Bencic Prediction & Betting Tips - Olympic Tournament Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Prediction published on 27/07/2021, 08:07  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 27/07/2021 at 09:46 in Tennis Predictions

Ninth seeded Belinda Bencic takes on Anastasia Pavlyucenkova for a place in the semi-finals of the Olympic Women's Singles tournament. Pavlyuchenkova is seeded 13th and representing the Russian Olympic Committee. The winner of this match takes on either Garbine Muguruza or Elena Rybakina in the semi-finals. Pavlyuchenkova is world ranked 18th but the 30-year-old was as high as 13th ten years ago. This year saw her as low as 46th but the Russian has had a strong past few months with a semi-final in Madrid and then a run to the final of the French Open, both clay court tournaments of course. We're on a hard court this week but Pavyluchenkova has beaten Sara Errani, Anna-Lisa Friedsam and Sara Sorribes-Tormo (who beat Ashleigh Barty) for the loss of just seven games.

Belinda Bencic is the third highest ranked player left in this tournament. The Swiss player is the world number 12 but has rarely threatened in Grand Slams, only twice getting past the last 16 since debuting in 2014. This year has seen her win a grass court tournament in Berlin and the final of the Adelaide International back in February. In terms of ranking points earned this year, Bencic is 23rd but her opponent is eighth. This week has seen Bencic defeat Jessica Pegula, Misaki Doi and then a three-set win over Barbora Krejcikova, who beat Pavlyuchenkova in the French Open final. That was a real battle for Bencic after losing the first set 6-1 but then dropping only five games in the next two sets. Bencic leads her opponent 4-2 in previous matches. The most recent match was last year in Dubai. Bencic  had won three in a row against Pavlyuchenkova and a fourth win looked on the cards as she won the first set 6-1 but then only won two games in the next couple of sets. A three-setter looks likely here with Pavlyuchenkova looking the player in better form and she's played 17 games less than her opponent this week.