World number 17 Iga Swiatek will return back to Grand Slam tennis for the first time since winning the 2020 French Open and she faces Arantxa Rus in the first round of the 2021 Australian Open on Monday, February 8. Get the live streaming options of this Iga Swiatek v Arantxa Rus match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Swiatek v Rus Head to Head
The only match between these two players before this came in the Italian Open last year where Rus was a surprise, 7-6, 6-3 winner in the first round.
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Swiatek Hoping for Clay-Like Love in Melbourne Park
While Swiatek doesn’t quite have a problem with hard court surfaces, her best results across the ITF and WTA tour have come on clay courts. Coming into the Australian Open as the defending champion at the French Open, she would love to turn things around on this surface too.
Things haven’t gone her way in hard court tournaments since the start of the previous season, but she does have a fourth round at this very tournament to boast.
A shock win over Donna Vekic at the 2020 Australian Open following the defeats of Carla Suarez Navarro and Timea Babos indicated the Pole was turning things around on hard courts but a first round loss at the Cincinnati Open and third round defeat in the US Open means the verdict is still awaited.
Swiatek did not have the best of starts to 2021 either, losing in the second match at the Gippsland Trophy despite going in as a 1/2 favourite to overcome Ekaterina Alexandrova. That came after she struggled to register a three-set win over Kaja Juvan in her opener.
Can she start things off strongly here?
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Rus 0-2 This Year
Like her opponent in this match, Rus also prefers the clay court surface and in 2019, when she last won an ITF tournament, there were eight title wins on the red dirt. Yep, that’s right, eight of her (whopping) 10 tournament victories were on clay.
Her post-pandemic season last year saw her struggle to accumulate too many victories though. Second round exits at four of the WTA tournaments were her best results, but that was also down to her shift from playing predominantly at the lower circuit the previous season.
It hasn’t been the best start to this year for Rus though. She has played in two tournaments, at Abu Dhabi and Yarra Valley Classic and lost in the first round at both. While a defeat to Venus Williams in Melbourne might not have been that surprising, Rus also lost her opener in UAE to Xiyu Wang, a 119th-ranked player.
Can she put up a fight here?
Swiatek v Rus Prediction and Tip
Swiatek might not have the best of records on hard courts but she is up against a player who herself is going through a form rut. Going with a straight-set win for Swiatek.
Tip: Swiatek to win in straight sets: 4/7 (bet365)
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The 2021 Australian Open will be played from February 8 to 21. You can watch & bet on the these matches here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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