Canadian Open 2023: Elena Rybakina vs Jennifer Brady preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds, and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (3) Elena Rybakina vs (PR) Jennifer Brady
Date: August 8, 2023
Tournament: Canadian Open 2023
Round: Second round (Round of 32)
Venue: Montreal, Canada
Category: WTA 1000
Surface: Hard
Prize money: $2,788,468
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | Canada - Sportsnet, TVA Sports | UK - Amazon Prime Video
Elena Rybakina vs Jennifer Brady preview
After a first-round bye, World No. 3 Elena Rybakina will take on Jennifer Brady in the second round of the 2023 Canadian Open on Tuesday (August 8).
Rybakina started the season on a strong note by reaching the final of the Australian Open, which she lost to Aryna Sabalenka. She continued her good run of form by winning the BNP Paribas Open and came quite close to completing the "Sunshine Double".
However, Rybakina lost to Petra Kvitova in the final of the Miami Open. The clay swing saw her win the Italian Open, but an illness forced the Kazakh out of the French Open prior to her third-round contest.
As the defending champion at Wimbledon, Rybakina made it to the quarterfinals. She faced Ons Jabeur in a rematch of last year's final, but lost to the Tunisian in three sets this time to conclude her title defense.
Brady, meanwhile, kicked off her campaign in Montreal against 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko. The American was down a break in the first set, but rallied to forced a tie-break, in which she saved a couple of set points before claiming it herself.
Ostapenko responded strongly by clinching the second set without losing a single game. She continued to dictate the play and led 3-0 in the final set as well. Brady once again dug deep to level the score and take the match into a tie-break.
Brady was the first to reach match point in it, only to see Ostapenko fend it off. The latter then let go of a couple of match points after that. The American finally got the job done on her second match point to win 7-6(7), 0-6, 7-6(8).
Elena Rybakina vs Jennifer Brady head-to-head
This will be the first meeting between them, so the head-to-head stands at 0-0 for now.
Elena Rybakina vs Jennifer Brady odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Elena Rybakina vs Jennifer Brady prediction
Brady's comeback is shaping up rather well. She demonstrated immense mental fortitude to knock out a player like Ostapenko in the previous round. She looked down and out plenty of times in the match, but fought until the very end and was rewarded for it.
Brady saved 11 of the 16 break points that she faced and her serving stats were rather decent, despite the eight double faults. She was able to go toe-to-toe with Ostapenko from the baseline and her ground game held up quite well.
However, with a 37-9 record for the season, Rybakina has positioned herself as one of the best players on the tour. Armed with a big serve and flat, powerful groundstrokes, she's likely to best Brady at her own game. Expect the Kazakh to make a winning start in Montreal.
Pick: Elena Rybakina to win in straight sets.