Beatriz Haddad Maia vs Elena Rybakina Prediction & Betting Tips - Wimbledon Qualification, England

Prediction published on 09/07/2023, 13:12  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 10/07/2023 at 00:30 in Tennis Predictions

Third seeded Elena Rybakina continues the defence of her Wimbledon title. This fourth round match sees her up against the 13th seed Beatriz Haddad-Maia. Whoever wins this match will have a quarter final against either sixth seeded Ons Jabeur or the ninth seed Petra Kvitova. Rybakina returned to the grass of Wimbledon ranked third in the world but is down to fourth in the live rankings. The 24-year-old has won two titles this year but also had problems with injury and illness. Her one grass court warm-up event saw her lose in Berlin to Donna Vekic in the last 16. It was a struggle for her in the first round of Wimbledon as she lost the first set to unseeded Shelby Rogers. Rybakina fought back well though and only lost three games in the remaining two sets. Since then, the defending chamoion has beaten both Elize Cornet and Katie Boulter in straight sets. Five of her last seven sets in this tournament have seen her opponent unable to win more than two games. 

Beatriz Haddad-Maia has beaten Elena Rybakina in both of their previous meetings. Those two matches took place earlier this year in Abu-Dhabi and Stuttgart. Rybakina retired in the clay court match played in Stuttgart. This is their first meeting on a grass court. The Brazilian began this tournament ranked 13th and is up a place in the live rankings. A win over Rybakina will see her climb to 11th. Maia didn't have the best of warm-ups for this tournament. One match out of three was won and she retired in her defeat to Petra Martic in Eastbourne. That's nowhere near as good as last year when the Brazilian won two grass court events. However, she then lost in the first round at Wimbledon and had never made it past round two here until this tournament. Maia had a difficult first round though and had to come from a set down to beat Yulia Putintseva. The first set was also lost in her second round victory over Jaqueline Cristian. It was easier in round three with only four games lost to unseeded Sorana Cirstea. We plump for Rybakina to get the win and head into the last eight.