Jelena Ostapenko vs Elena Rybakina Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Eastbourne International

Prediction published on 24/06/2021, 17:18  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 25/06/2021 at 06:41 in Tennis Predictions

No seeds remain in the Eastbourne International grass court tournament. Elena Rybakina takes on wild card Jelena Ostapenka with the winner up against either Anett Kontaveit or Camila Giorgi in the final. Rybakina is the world number 21 but will be back in the top 20 after her performances in Eastbourne this week. It's not been an easy week for her though, having to go to three sets to beat Harriet Dart in the first round. It was better for her in round two with a win over second seeded Elina Svitolina without dropping a set. Her run nearly came to an end in the last eight as she had to save two match points agsinst Anastasia Sevastova. It took two and a half hours for her to eventually get the win. 

Jelena Ostapenko is a former fifth ranked player but now down to 43rd. The Latvian will be back in the top 40 in the next set of rankings due to her reaching this semi-final. It's the first time she's got this far in a tournament since winning the Luxembourg Open in October 2019. This week saw her given a wild card to play in this grass court tournament. The first round saw her beat recent French Open finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets. A tougher battle lay ahead in round two as she came from a set down to beat Ons Jabeur who won the Birmingham Classic last week. Another tough battle was faced in the last eight as Ostapenko only won one game in the first set against Anastasija Sevastova. Eventually she got the better of her opponent. This looks like being a tight match, go for over 21.5 games to be played.