World number six Elena Rybakina will face the 47th-ranked Anhelina Kalinina in the FINAL of the 2023 WTA Rome Open on Saturday, May 20. Get the predictions and odds of this Elena Rybakina v Anhelina Kalinina match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Elena Rybakina v Anhelina Kalinina Head to Head
There has been one previous meeting between these two and that came on the clay courts of Charleston last season. Kalinina had won that in three sets.
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Rybakina Dispels Ostapenko
For someone who doesn’t quite relish playing on clay, Rybakina has had a tournament to remember. She has been aided by traces of fortunes, sure, but at the same time Rybakina has held her own as well, much like was the case in the semifinal against Jelena Ostapenko.
Having come into the match on the back of Iga Swiatek’s third set retirement from their quarterfinal, Rybakina was on court for an hour and 41 for 6-2, 6-4 win over Ostapenko.
It was an even quicker first set where Rybakina broke her opponent in the very first game and then doubled that count in the fifth. She missed three set-points, overcame three break-points before wrapping the set up off the fourth in a rather long eighth game.
That last game seemed to have given Ostapenko bit of a confidence as she broke immediately in the second and grabbed a 3-0 lead. Very soon she was serving to make it 5-2 but from that point onward, again, the match turned in Rybakina’s favour who rattled off four games in a row to move into the final.
In doing to, Rybakina has reached her maiden clay court final in the WTA 1000 series and just the third overall of her career on this surface. Interestingly this is her third WTA 1000 final too with all three of them having come this season.
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Kalinina Edges Out Kudermetova
Kalinina needed her time to win her semifinal but then she was playing an opponent who was 35 places ahead of her 47th rank on the tour. In the end, she was on court for nearly three hours as she carved out a 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 win over Veronika Kudermetova to make it to just her second career final.
The Ukrainian player, who has never won a WTA title in her career, saved eight break-points in the first set before stunning Kudermetova and taking a 5-3 lead.
And while she failed to serve it out in the 10th game, Kudermetova gave her another opportunity to do that in the 12th and this time around Kalinina wasn’t saying no.
Something similar repeated in the second set when Kalinina was a break up, and again missed on serving out the match in the 10th game. This time around, however, it was Kudermetova who broke her opponent twice in a row to level things out.
A two-break cushion very early in the deciding set is all that Kalinina needed though to end Kudermetova’s run in the tournament as she marched into her maiden WTA 1000 final.
That followed wins over Anna Blinkova, Sofia Kenin, Madison Keys and Beatriz Haddad Maia in the previous rounds. She will now hope she can usurp a top-10 player for only the third time in her career, having defeated Garbine Muguruza in Madrid and Maria Sakkari in Eastbourne last year.
Rybakina v Kalinina Prediction and Tip
Rybakina starts off an obvious favourite but we think it could get a lot closer than the 1/3 odds on offer for her win. Might even see a three-setter here.
Tips:
- High Risk Tip: Rybakina to win AND Over 19.5 games in the match: 11/8
- Moderate Risk Tip: Over 20.5 games in the match: 4/5
The 2023 WTA Rome Open will be played from May 9 to 21. You can get all the tennis betting news with our tennis betting blog here. Also get rest of the tennis match previews here.
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