US Open 2019: Venus Williams vs Elina Svitolina preview and prediction
Venus Williams and Elina Svitolina will be contesting one of the most high-profile second round matches on Day 3 of the 2019 US Open. The American, who is playing for the 21st time in the tournament, looked to very sharp in her opening match against Saisai Zheng of China. She came out on top in straight sets, losing just one game in the entire match.
Venus has found her stride coming into the US Open this year, with a few good wins in Cincinnati. She registered hard-fought victories over the likes of Kiki Bertens and Donna Vekic before coming up short against Madison Keys.
But Venus has not looked as sharp as she was in first round win here in a long time. Her forehand was absolutely unstoppable and she never let up the aggressive approach that she brought to the match.
The two-time former champion (2000,2001) will be looking to carry that form into her second-round match against a much-tougher opponent in form of Svitolina. The Ukrainian is riding high on confidence herself, having had her best Grand Slam result at Wimbledon in July. While she has not had the best results since, she would still fancy her chances of going deep in the tournament.
Moreover, Svitolina has the game to counter Venus' power well. The fifth seed does not give her opponents much and really manages to frustrate them into giving her points. That is the kind of play that bothers Venus a lot, as she looks to close in the rallies early.
She might have to be more patient with Svitolina and will have to come into the match expecting a few long rallies.
A lot of the match will depend on how much Venus manages to adapt to Svitolina's counter attack. She will still have to be aggressive and go for her shots, as she was in her first round match. If she manages to execute her game as well as she in that particular match, it might just prove to be too much firepower for Svitolina to handle.
Prediction: Venus to win in three sets.