French Open 2023: Elena Rybakina vs Brenda Fruhvirtova preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (4) Elena Rybakina vs (Q) Brenda Fruhvirtova
Tournament: French Open 2023
Round: First round (Round of 128)
Venue: Paris, France
Category: Grand Slam
Surface: Outdoor clay
Prize money: €49,600,000
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel, NBC Sports, Peacock TV | Canada - TSN | UK - Eurosport | India - Sony Ten
Elena Rybakina vs Brenda Fruhvirtova preview
Fourth seed Elena Rybakina will face Brenda Fruhvirtova in the first round of the French Open 2023.
Rybakina has had an impressive 2023 season so far, winning 28 out of 35 matches, with two WTA 1000 titles to her name. She also reached the Australian Open final before losing to Aryna Sabalenka.
The Kazakh most recently competed at the Italian Open where she was the seventh seed. She beat Jasmine Paolini, Anna Kalinskaya, Marketa Vondrousova, Iga Swiatek, and Jelena Ostapenko to reach the final.
The Wimbledon champion next faced 30th seed Anhelina Kalinina and won the opening set 6-4. She led 1-0 in the second before the Ukrainian retired due to a leg injury. Rybakina thus won the Italian Open and entered the top five of the WTA rankings for the first time in her career.
Brenda Fruhvirtova, meanwhile, has played four tour-level main-draw matches so far this season and is yet to register a win. Her last tour-level appearance came at the Madrid Open, where she suffered a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 defeat to Anna Kalinskaya.
Fruhvirtova entered the qualifying rounds of the French Open and started with a 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(10) win over Antonia Ruzic. The Czech then beat Liechtenstein's Kathinka von Deichmann 7-6(4), 6-1 to set up a final qualifier clash against Alice Robbe.
She thrashed the Frenchwoman 6-3, 6-0 to book her place in the main draw of the claycourt Major for the very first time in her career.
Elena Rybakina vs Brenda Fruhvirtova head-to-head
The head-to-head between the two is currently 0-0 as they haven't played each other before.
Elena Rybakina vs Brenda Fruhvirtova
All odds are sourced from BetMGM.
Elena Rybakina vs Brenda Fruhvirtova prediction
Rybakina will enter the match as the overwhelming favorite to win, considering her recent run of form.
The Kazakh is currently playing the best tennis of her career, having already won two WTA 1000 titles, including one on clay. She is among the best servers on tour and will aim to accumulate as many free points as she can through aces. The 23-year-old is a very powerful hitter of the ball but needs to be careful not to hit too many unforced errors.
Fruhvirtova plays well from the baseline and has a pretty effective serve that has fetched her a lot of aces at times, most recently eight in her Madrid Open match against Anna Kalinskaya. However, she coughed up 13 double faults in the French Open qualifiers and will need to cut it down against a strong server like Rybakina.
Fruhvirtova is a fine young prospect and is someone to look out for in the future. However, it's hard to see Rybakina lose given the kind of form she is in at the moment, coupled with the Czech's inexperience.
Pick: Rybakina to win in straight sets.