Elina Avanesyan vs Marta Kostyuk Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Australian Open

Prediction published on 17/01/2024, 23:50  by Daniel Ngulu in Tennis Predictions

Elina Avanesyan and Marta Kostyuk, both unseeded, will battle each other in the third round at the Australian Open. The winner will then square off with either Beatriz Haddad Maia or Maria Timofeeva for a place in the quarterfinals. Elina Avanesyan is coming off the biggest win of her career. The Russian, who is playing in the main draw in Melbourne for the first time, defeated eighth seed Maria Sakkari. She won their second-round battle in straight sets and earned the first top-10 win of her career. Avanesyan has had a rocky start to the season but she will hope the win over Sakkari sparks a sustained run here. The 21-year-old, who is now up to 60th in the live ranking, a new career high, has compiled a 3-2 record thus far.

Marta Kostyuk has never progressed past the third round in Melbourne and has in the last two seasons exited at this stage. She will be hoping this isn’t the case again. The Ukrainian has had a strong start to the year. She has won five of the seven matches she has played with the latest coming against 25th seed Elise Mertens. Kostyuk won that second-round tie in three sets with the decider requiring a tiebreaker. A deciding third set has been required in both matches the 21-year-old has played at this major. Kosyuk is a much better performer on hard courts than Avanesyan. So far in her career she has compiled a 96-56 record on the surface. Advancing to this round has moved her up four places to 33rd in the live ranking.