Sloane Stephens vs Aryna Sabalenka Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA French Open

Prediction published on 03/06/2023, 11:00  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 03/06/2023 at 12:03 in Tennis Predictions

For the first time in her career, Aryna Sabalenka is in the fourth round at Roland Garros. The second seed takes on former finalist Sloane Stephens in the last 16. Whoever wins this match will face either ninth seed Daria Kasatkina or unseeded Elina Svitolina in the last eight. Sabalenka isn't just bidding to win her second Grand Slam of the year. The Australian Open champion is aiming to become the world number one for the first time ever. The live rankings have her top of the list in both the overall category and the WTA Race. Sabalenka has already won one clay court title this year and lost in another final. Her opponent in both those tournament finals was current world number one Iga Swiatek. So far at Roland Garros this year, the second seed has won three matches, all without dropping a set but no seeds have been faced. Aside from Sabalenka, only two other seeds in the bottom half of the draw remain in the tournament.

Sloane Stephens reached the final at Roland Garros five years ago. A win here will take the American into her third Roland Garros quarter final since 2018. Her most recent last eight appearance was last year, so it's a tournament that Stephens clearly enjoys playing in. At the start of this Grand Slam, Stephens was ranked 30th in the world. With points to defend from last year, she's down to 38th in the live list could climb ten places if winning this match. One clay court tournament has been won by her this year but no top 100 players were beaten to land that title. That hasn't been the case at Roland Garros with 16th seeded Karolina Pliskova beaten in the first round. Only one set has been dropped by Stephens so far in this tournament. That was in the third round when dropping the middle set en route to a win over Yulia Putintseva. To reach the last eight, a first ever win over Sabalenka has to be achieved. All three previous meetings have been lost but this is their first match on clay. We go for Sabalenka to win this in straight sets.