It will be intriguing to observe how Elena Rybakina deals with the frustration of narrowly missing the opportunity to become a multi-Grand Slam champion. Nevertheless, the top-ranked player from Kazakhstan has rightfully secured her place among the top 10 in the world rankings, and she would be ranked even higher if the WTA Tour had not revoked her Wimbledon points.
She will make her return at the Abu Dhabi tournament, where some of the Tour’s elite players have gathered to compete for a significant title during the upcoming months of hard court tennis. Her performance in Melbourne demonstrates that Elena Rybakina poses a threat at every Grand Slam tournament, even on clay courts where some might not expect her to wield as much power as on quicker surfaces.
Elena Rybakina has demonstrated that she has the capability to handle pressure well, and the break may have been beneficial for her. However, she will face a new type of pressure stemming from the heightened expectations generated by her impressive performance in Melbourne. Although she is the Wimbledon champion, Rybakina has not faced the same level of scrutiny that she may experience now, and her first match after the Australian Open will not be a straightforward one.
Karolina Pliskova had a difficult 2022 marked by injuries and inconsistent form, and her aspirations of winning a Grand Slam title may have diminished. Nevertheless, she did make it to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open last month. Her dominant win in the first round in Abu Dhabi indicates that she has moved on from her performance in Melbourne and still possesses a formidable serve and ample power that can challenge her opponents.
However, her struggle to make more out of her returns is likely to be her weakness in the upcoming big second-round match against Elena Rybakina, who may hold a significant advantage in this aspect.
Karolina Pliskova doesn’t appear to be at the level she once was, and it’s difficult to overlook the fact that she has lost her last four hard court matches against top 20 ranked opponents. These losses have all been rather straightforward, including the two she played last month, when she struggled with her serve and only managed to win 36% of the return points.
It looks like this weakness may surface in the upcoming second-round match against Elena Rybakina. Although the first set may be competitive, we’d expect the Wimbledon champion to exert pressure with her serve and her aggressive returns to prove effective as the match progresses.
This was evident in their previous encounter on the hard courts of Guadalajara in October, where Elena Rybakina used a first-set tiebreaker win to cruise through the second set. She won 41% of the return points compared to Karolina Pliskova’s 32% on that day, and we anticipate the top-ten ranked player to secure a convincing victory in this second-round match in Abu Dhabi.
Match Result Prediction
Elena Rybakina to win.
Score Prediction
Karolina Pliskova 1 v 2 Elena Rybakina
