China Open 2024: Aryna Sabalenka vs Ashlyn Krueger preview, head-to-head, odds, prediction, and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (1) Aryna Sabalenka vs Ashlyn Krueger
Date: 30 September 2024
Tournament: China Open 2024
Round: Third round (Round of 32)
Venue: National Tennis Center, Beijing, China
Category: WTA 1000
Surface: Hard
Prize money: $3,633,875
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime | Canada - TSN
Aryna Sabalenka vs Ashlyn Krueger preview
Top seed Aryna Sabalenka will look to keep her bid for a fourth title alive when she takes on Ashlyn Krueger in the third round of the 2024 China Open. The Belarusian has had an excellent year, which has seen her win two Majors, the Australian Open and the US Open, win a WTA 1000 title at Cincinnati and reach the finals of the Italian and the Madrid Open.
Aside from the three hard-court titles, the World No. 2 also reached the final of the Brisbane International, losing to Elena Rybakina. She also reached the semifinal of the Citi Open (losing to Marie Bouzkova), and the quarterfinal of the Canadian Open (losing to Amanda Anisimova). At the China Open, she got an opening round bye due to her top seeding. In the second round, she defeated Thai qualifier Mananchaya Sawangkae in straight sets.
2024 has been a year of underwhelming results for Ashlyn Krueger. The young American player has not progressed into the later stages of any event that she has played in the season, with early-round exits being normal for her. However she has had some decent runs in the North American hard court phase with a Round of 16 appearance at the Canadian Open, losing to Jessica Pegula, and a third-round run at the US Open, losing to Liudmila Samsonova.
At the China Open, Krueger secured a victory against Wang Yafan in the first round after dropping the first set. In the second round, she caused an upset, getting the better of 29th-seeded Lulu Sun in straight sets.
Aryna Sabalenka vs Ashlyn Krueger head-to-head
This will be the first meeting between the two players on the WTA Tour.
Aryna Sabalenka vs Ashlyn Krueger odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Aryna Sabalenka vs Ashlyn Krueger prediction
Aryna Sabalenka has a 31-6 record on hard courts this season. She has an overall 72 percent win ratio on the surface in her career with 14 hard-court titles to her name. Her power-based game and strong groundstrokes make her a formidable opponent on the surface. The World No. 2 has improved her serving considerably and is gradually incorporating net play in her game.
Krueger is trying to establish herself on the Tour. Her maiden and only WTA title came on the hard courts in Osaka last year, when she defeated Zhu Lin for the title. In her previous round match against Lulu Sun, Krueger showed an all-around game to win 75 percent of the service points and 42 percent of the return points.
However, Sabalenka is the clear favorite to win the match and it will take something miraculous from the American to stop the World No. 2 in such form.
Pick- Sabalenka to win in straight sets.