US Open 2022: Aryna Sabalenka vs Catherine Harrison preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (6) Aryna Sabalenka vs (Q) Catherine Harrison.
Date: August 30, 2022.
Tournament: US Open 2022.
Round: First round (Round of 128).
Venue: New York, United States.
Category: Grand Slam.
Surface: Hard.
Prize money: $60,102,000.
Match timing: 11 am local time, 3 pm GMT and 8:30 pm IST.
Live telecast: USA - ESPN & ESPN2 | Canada - TSN | UK - Amazon Prime Video | India - Sony Liv, Sony Ten & Sony Six.
Aryna Sabalenka vs Catherine Harrison preview
World No. 6 Aryna Sabalenka will take on American qualifier Catherine Harrison in the first round of the 2022 US Open on Tuesday.
Sabalenka has been quite inconsistent this season, with some good performances sandwiched between early exits. She started the year with consecutive opening-round losses, but managed to get to the fourth round of the Australian Open. A second-round exit in Dubai was followed by a quarterfinal finish in Doha.
Sabalenka then failed to win a match at Indian Wells and Miami. She started the clay swing with a third-round appearance at the Charleston Open. The Belarusian then reached her first final of the season in Stuttgart, but lost to Iga Swiatek. She lost in the first round of the Madrid Open, but then made it to the semifinals in Rome.
For the third year in a row, Sabalenka lost in the third round of the French Open. She kicked off her grass season by reaching the final of the Libema Open, losing to Ekaterina Alexandrova. However, the following week she lost in the first round in Berlin. She was unable to compete at Wimbledon due to a ban on Russian and Belarusian players.
Sabalenka returned to action at the Silicon Valley Classic, where she reached the quarterfinals. She lost in the third round of the Canadian Open, but made it to the semifinals in Cincinnati. The 24-year-old was a semifinalist at the US Open last year and will be hoping to go a step further this time around.
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World No. 243 Catherine Harrison finally saw some success on the WTA tour this season. She clinched her maiden WTA title at the Moneterrey Open in doubles. She went through the qualifying rounds to clinch a main draw spot at Wimbledon, making her Grand Slam debut. The American defeated Aranxta Rus in the first round before losing to Ajla Tomljanovic.
Harrison defeated Anastasia Kulikova, Lizette Cabrera and Eva Lys in the qualifiers to secure a spot in the main draw of the US Open last week. She'll now be making her debut in New York.
Aryna Sabalenka vs Catherine Harrison head-to-head
This will be the first meeting between them, so their head-to-head stands at 0-0 for now.
Aryna Sabalenka vs Catherine Harrison odds
(Odds sourced from Oddschecker)
Aryna Sabalenka vs Catherine Harrison prediction
The main issue that has plagued Sabalenka throughout the season has been her serve. She has hit a tour-leading 339 double faults so far, hitting as many as 20 of them in a single match.
Should the Belarusian's serving yips return to haunt her once again, Harrison might just stand a chance. But if her game is working fine, it might be a tall order for the American to score an upset win.
Sabalenka did keep her double faults largely in check in her most recent tournament. Her semifinal run in Cincinnati would've further boosted her confidence. Despite her serving woes, her ground game has remained mostly intact. She's still pounding the ball hard and has shown great grit and determination in all her matches.
Harrison will have the full backing of her home crowd and might raise her level to challenge her opponent, but Sabalenka should be able to make it through in the end.
Pick: Aryna Sabalenka to win in straight sets.