Emma Navarro vs Aryna Sabalenka Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA French Open

Prediction published on 02/06/2024, 08:15  by Daniel Ngulu | Modified on 02/06/2024 at 08:20 in Tennis Predictions

Second seed Aryna Sabalenka is through to the French Open fourth round where she will take on 22nd seed Emma Navarro. The winner of this second encounter between the two will play Varvara Gracheva or Mirra Andreeva in the quarter-finals. Emma Navarro defeated Sabalenka at Indian Wells back in March. This was their first career meeting and she won in three sets to record her biggest career victory. Coincidentally, that encounter also took place in the fourth round. The American, who is having the best Grand Slam campaign of her career, will therefore be confident of a win here. Navarro made her major debut three seasons ago. Before her run in Paris, she had never progressed to the second week of competition at this level. To achieve this feat, the 23-year-old, who is yet to lose a set in the tournament, defeated compatriot Madison Keys. Their showdown lasted close to two hours and saw a tiebreaker played in each set. Advancing to the last 16 had catapulted Navarro seven places in the live ranking and into 17th place, a new career-high ranking.

Aryna Sabalenka is more experienced than Navarro at this level. She is a two-time Grand Slam champion and recorded a semi-final run at last year’s French Open. The world number two will therefore arrive for this match confident of progressing and avenging her loss to the American at Indian Wells. Sabalenka, who is defending 780 points, is also yet to lose a set in this year’s competition. The Belarussian defeated Paula Badosa by the loss of six games in the last round. This was her 14th win on clay which in turn improved her record for the season to 28-7. Sabalenka, who defended her Australian Open title earlier this year, has made the final in each of her last two tournaments. In both tournaments, Madrid and Rome, she was pegged back by top seed Iga Swiatek.