Elina Svitolina vs Daria Gavrilova Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Charleston Open

Prediction published on 03/04/2024, 01:44  by Daniel Ngulu in Tennis Predictions

Seventh seed Elina Svitolina will begin her Charleston Open campaign with a second-round showdown against qualifier Daria Saville. The winner will then take on either Varvara Gracheva or Elise Mertens in the third round. Elina Svitolina has dominated this fixture against Saville and will be confident of making a winning start here. The Ukrainian has defeated Saville seven times in their nine meetings and is currently on a six-match winning run against her. Their last encounter was however five seasons ago at Wimbledon. Svitolina is making her season debut and arrives having compiled a 10-5 record. She is coming off a disappointing first-round exit in Miami. The 29-year-old has seen her form drop in recent outings and has lost three times in her last four fixtures. Svitolina is currently ranked 17th in the WTA world rankings. The highlight of her season came in Auckland where she finished as runner-up.

Daria Saville has struggled against Svitolina but she did win on their only showdown on a clay surface. This was in Madrid back in 2016. She will hope for the same fate again and her strong start to the surface this season will have her confident of this. The Australian has won all three fixtures she has played on clay this season. After winning both of her qualifying matches here, she defeated Tamara Korpatsch in three sets in the first round. This improved her record to 13-8 and moved her right back into the WTA top 100. The former world number 20 has shot up 15 places to 93rd in the live ranking. Saville has returned to Charleston after five years away. She last played here in 2018. The 30-year-old will be hoping she manages to go beyond the third round for the first time. Saville made the semifinals in Hobart and was a quarterfinalist in San Diego.