Danielle Collins vs Elina Svitolina Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA National Bank Open

Prediction published on 07/08/2023, 11:03  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 07/08/2023 at 12:03 in Tennis Predictions

Wimbledon semi-finalist Elina Svitolina faces qualifer Danielle Collins in the National Bank first round. The winner will take on the eighth seeded Maria Sakkari in the second round of this outdoor hard court event. It's a WTA 1000 tournament so lots of ranking points to play for. Elina Svitolina begins this event at 28th in the rankings and had another good run last week. The Czech made it to the last eight in Washington and led Jessica Pegula by a set but lost the next two. It's been a great comeback by her since returning to the WTA Tour this year. Success has been achieved on clay (winning the Strasbourg tournament and getting to the quarter finalist at Roland Garros), on grass and hard courts. Svitolina gained entry into the main draw of this tournament via her protected ranking. It's looking likely though that she'll be seeded at the upcoming US Open.

Danielle Collins had to qualify to get into the main draw. The American is ranked 49th and had a real battle to get through the qualifying rounds. Her first match saw her beat Eugenie Bouchard in three sets, a strange encounter in which each set was won 6-1. It was also a struggle in the final qualifying round as Collins beat Emma Bektas in a three-setter that saw 37 games played. Collins has lost 12 of her 22 main draw WTA Tour matches this year. Last week saw her lose in the first round in Washington, winning just four games against Liudmila Samsonova. Earlier this year, Collins reached the last eight in Adelaide and the last four of the ATX Open, both on outdoor hard courts. Her form has dipped since then and the couple of wins she had in the qualifiers is the first time two matches have been won in a tournament since March. Her one match against Svitolina was in the 2020  hard court Brisbane tournament with Svitolina only winning two games. Collins isn't in that kind of form at present and we tip Svitolina to get the win.