Jasmine Paolini vs Elena Rybakina Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Rome

Prediction published on 12/05/2023, 04:39  by Kennedy Kechula | Modified on 12/05/2023 at 07:10 in Tennis Predictions

The unseeded Jasmine Paolini will hope to continue with her winning start to this year’s Italian Open. The Italian faces seventh seed Elena Rybakina in the second round on Friday on an outdoor clay court. A showdown with either 25th seed Elise Mertens or world number 57 Anna Kalinskaya awaits the winner of this match. Paolini won her first-round battle with unseeded Xin Wang in three sets and will now seek to record a personal best and advance from this round for the very first time. The Italian boosted her world ranking with the win and is now up five places to number 60 in the live ranking. She however still has a losing record for the season with 12 losses from the 20 matches she has played. Three of her eight wins have come on clay and this coupled with support from the home crowd should instil belief in her that she can win this first-ever meeting between her and Rybakina.

Elena Rybakina is one of the form players in the WTA this season and starts her third appearance in Rome having won 24 of the 31 matches that she has played. This form has seen her rise from being ranked outside the top 20 to breaking into the world’s top 10 for the very first time and is currently ranked sixth. Having never gone past the third round here, the Kazakh will fancy her chances of setting a new personal record. Rybakina has made it to three finals this season and won her first WTA 1000 title with her success at Indian Wells. Though she has struggled on clay with three wins from five matches, her success so far in the year should have her confident of another title run.