Elina Svitolina vs Aryna Sabalenka Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA French Open

Prediction published on 05/06/2023, 08:15  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 05/06/2023 at 09:51 in Tennis Predictions

Aryna Sabalena is in her first Roland Garros quarter final. The second seed faces unseeded Elina Svitolina for a place in the last four. Whoever wins this match will take on unseeded opposition in the semi-final, either Karolina Muchova or former finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Before this year, Sabalenka had never made it past the third round at Roland Garros. Now the 25-year-old is close to becoming the world number one for the first time in her career. Sabalenka is top of the live rankings but must get a better result here than Iga Swiatek to end the tournament in top spot. One clay court event has been won by her this year with another final reached. At Roland Garros, she's got this far without dropping a single set. This is her third match against Svitolina and the pair are level at 1-1 but both were played on other surfaces.

Elina Svitolina was the second seed the last time she faced Aryna Sabalenka. The Czech slipped down the rankings since then and then took time off to have her first child. Now it's a case of working her way back up the world rankings. At the start of Roland Garros, the 28-year-old was ranked 192nd in the world but in April was down at 1344th and only got back into the top 1000 last month. This run to the last eight at Roland Garros has taken her up to 73rd. Beating Sabalenka will see her rise up to 39th so it's a massive match for her. Svitolina is playing in her fourth Roland Garros quarter final but has never made the last four. A win will take her into only her third Grand Slam semi-final, the other two both reached four years ago. Before this tournament, a semi-final in Saint Malo was reached and the Czech then won the Strasbourg title but didn't beat any top 40 ranked players. Twice on her way to this quarter final Svitolina has had to come from a set down to win. We go for Sabalenka to win this in straight sets.