Eastbourne International 2021: Jelena Ostapenko vs Elena Rybakina preview, head-to-head & prediction
Match details
Fixture: Jelena Ostapenko vs Elena Rybakina
Date: 25 June 2021
Tournament: Viking International Eastbourne 2021
Round: Semifinals
Venue: Eastbourne, Great Britain
Category: WTA 500
Surface: Grass
Prize money: $565,530
Match timing: Approx. 1 pm local time, 12 pm GMT, 8 am EST, 5.30 pm IST
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video
Jelena Ostapenko vs Elena Rybakina preview
Jelena Ostapenko takes on Elena Rybakina in the semifinals of the 2021 Eastbourne International on Friday. Both women are looking to advance to their first final of the year, and are also bidding for their maiden grasscourt title.
Ostapenko's run this week started with a first-round upset of eighth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, which was followed by a comeback victory over last week's Birmingham champion Ons Jabeur. In the quarterfinals, the Latvian fended off an inspired Daria Kasatkina to win in three sets.
Ostapenko has had a decent amount of success on grass in the past, with a Wimbledon semifinal appearance under her belt too. While her results in general have been lackluster over the last couple of years, the 24-year-old's status as a Major champion (Roland Garros 2017) does make her a threat whenever she steps on the court.
Her opponent Elena Rybakina registered grueling wins over Harriet Dart and second seed Elina Svitolina in the first couple of rounds. She then edged a close quarterfinal match against Anastasija Sevastova, saving two match points along the way.
Rybakina had announced herself on the tennis scene last year, with a tour-best five WTA finals to her name. The Kazakh has notched up six top 10 wins so far in her career to gradually make her way up the rankings.
She advanced to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at Roland Garros last month, and will be hoping for a stellar Wimbledon debut next week.
Jelena Ostapenko vs Elena Rybakina head-to-head
The duo's sole previous meeting took place in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Linz Open, where Jelena Ostapenko beat Elena Rybakina in straight sets. Hence, their head-to-head stands at 1-0 in favor of the Latvian.
Jelena Ostapenko vs Elena Rybakina prediction
We can expect short and powerful rallies from two aggressive baseliners in this match. Jelena Ostapenko and Elena Rybkina hit close to 40 winners each in their respective previous match, but they need to be wary of their unforced error count too.
Ostapenko's serve has been giving her problems for quite some time now, and the frequent double faults have turned out to be costly on several occasions. On the contrary, Rybakina usually produces strong serving numbers, thanks in no small part to the fact that she stands 6 feet tall.
That said, the Kazakh's serve wasn't quite up to scratch in her match against Sevastova. Rybakina had just 47% of first serves going in on Thursday, and she double-faulted six times.
With her serve not much of a weapon, Ostapenko will rely on her heavy ball-striking to control the points. But given that grass rewards first-strike tennis, Rybakina will be the favorite on Friday - assuming she regains her serving confidence and prevents Ostapenko from getting into the rallies.
Prediction: Elena Rybakina to win in straight sets.