Bad Homburg Open 2024: Caroline Wozniacki vs Elina Svitolina preview, head-to-head, prediction and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (WC) Caroline Wozniacki vs (7) Elina Svitolina
Date: Sunday, June 23
Tournament: Bad Homburg Open, 2024
Round: First Round (Round of 32)
Venue: TC Bad Homburg
Category: WTA 500
Surface: Grass
Prize: $923,000
Where to Watch: USA - Tennis Channel, UK - Sky Sports, Canada - TSN
Caroline Wozniacki vs Elina Svitolina preview
The first round of the 2024 Bad Homburg Open will feature two former World No. 1 and former World No. 3 Caroline Wozniacki and Elina Svitolina. Wozniacki has made a return on the WTA tour since last year after she announced her retirement from the sport in 2022. The Dane played at most of the tournaments in 2024 via wildcards.
The Dane's comeback, however, has been marred with injuries and her inconsistent form. Even in this season, she had to withdraw from certain tournaments. Her best showing has been at Indian Wells, reaching the quarter-finals. Wozniacki had to retire from her match against the top seed Iga Swiatek. Even at the Billie Jean King Cup, the former World No. 1 had to retire from her match due to illness.
Wozniacki has played one grass-court event this year at the Birmingham Classic Tournament, losing to fifth seed Elise Mertens in the opening round.
Elina Svitolina had a great start to the 2024 season, making it to the final of the ASB Classic. She lost to Coco Gauff at the final hurdle. Since then, the Ukranian has not had a deep run at any of the tournaments she has played. She made it to the 4R at both majors. She had to give walk over to Linda Noskova at the Australian Open and lost to Elena Rybakina at Roland Garros.
The Bad Homburg Open will be Svitolina's first grass-court tournament of the season. She had a good grass court season last year, making it to the semis of the 2023 Wimbledon, where she lost to the eventual champion Marketa Vondrousova.
Caroline Wozniacki vs Elina Svitolina head-to-head
Elina Svitolina leads the head-to-head against Caroline Wozniacki 5-1. The Ukrainian's most recent win against Wozniacki came at the ASB Classic earlier this year.
Caroline Wozniacki vs Elina Svitolina odds
(Odds will be updated once available)
Caroline Wozniacki vs Elina Svitolina prediction
Wozniacki depends on her defensive baseline play to engage her opponents in long rallies and make them commit the errors. Her powerful serve and a potent two-handed backhand are the main weapons in her arsenal. By her own admission, the Dane has enjoyed playing on grass courts as well as hard courts. She has two titles on grass, the last of which came at Eastbourne in 2018, defeating Aryna Sabalenka in the final.
Svitolina has some similarities in her game style with Wozniacki. The Ukrainian is also adept at making baseline plays and uses flat groundstrokes to play risk-free tennis. She too focuses more on eliciting mistakes from her opponents, rather than aggressively playing herself.
This will be the first meeting between the players on grass. Even though Wozniacki has two titles to her name on the surface, she has yet to hit her peak form after her comeback. On the other hand, Svitolina has been playing regularly and will be looking to replicate her grass-court success of 2023. The head-to-head lead also gives the advantage to the Ukrainian.
Pick- Svitolina to win in straight sets.