Australian Open 2024: Elina Svitolina vs Viktoriya Tomova preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match details
Fixture: (19) Elina Svitolina vs Viktoriya Tomova
Date: January 18, 2024
Tournament: Australian Open 2024
Round: Second Round (Round of 64)
Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia
Category: Grand Slam
Surface: Hard
Prize Money: A$86,500,000
Live telecast: USA - ESPN & Tennis Channel | UK - Eurosport | India - Sony Sports & Sony Liv | Canada - TSN & RDS
Elina Svitolina vs Viktoriya Tomova prediction
Elina Svitolina and Viktoriya Tomova will lock horns in an exciting second-round encounter at the 2024 Australian Open on Thursday.
Svitolina, the 19th seed at this year’s tournament, finds herself in great form coming into the year’s first Grand Slam. She has beaten Grand Slam champions Emma Raducanu and Caroline Wozniacki en-route to the ASB Classic final, where she pushed Coco Gauff to three sets.
The Ukrainian looked good in her opening match against Taylah Preston at Melbourne and will look to keep her winning run going.
Tomova, meanwhile, has had an up-and-down start to the year. She lost her opener at Brisbane International and then fell in the qualification rounds at Hobart.
The Bulgarian, however, made the best of her lucky loser entry into the main draw at the latter, reaching the quarterfinals with solid wins over Maria Trevisan and Tatjana Maria. She carried the good form into Melbourne, making quick work of Kayla Day in the first round.
Elina Svitolina vs Viktoriya Tomova head-to-head
Svitolina leads Tomova in their current head-to-head record 1-0, having beaten the Bulgarian in three tight sets at the 2022 Monterrey Open.
Elina Svitolina vs Viktoriya Tomova odds
All odds are sourced by BetMGM.
Elina Svitolina vs Viktoriya Tomova prediction
Neither Elina Svitolina nor Viktoriya Tomova is the biggest striker of the tennis ball. Both instead rely on their counterpunching abilities and nimble footwork to wear opponents down.
Svitolina, however, has shown a more aggressive intent on court ever since returning from her maternity leave last year. She tallied a whopping 55 winners to 28 errors ratio against Raducanu, showing an increased willingness to dictate matches.
Against someone like Tomova, who is very capable at going toe-to-toe against the best in long baseline rallies, the Ukrainian will need to take the risk and go for her shots.
The Bulgarian is herself capable of producing a few big shots off that backhand and could well push Svitolina. Tomova’s lack of experience in big matches, however, may come back to haunt her.
Prediction: Svitolina to win in three sets.