Wimbledon 2022 Final, Ons Jabeur vs Elena Rybakina: Preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (3) Ons Jabeur vs (17) Elena Rybakina.
Date: July 9, 2022.
Tournament: Wimbledon 2022.
Round: Final.
Venue: London, United Kingdom.
Category: Grand Slam.
Surface: Grass.
Prize money: £40,350,000.
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel & ESPN | Canada - TSN | UK - BBC & Eurosport | India - Star Sports & Disney+ Hotstar.
Ons Jabeur vs Elena Rybakina preview
World No. 2 Ons Jabeur and 17th seed Elena Rybakina will vie for their first Grand Slam title when they meet in the ladies singles final at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships on Saturday.
Jabeur has been on a terrific run over the past few months. A dream clay swing saw her win her biggest career title yet in Madrid, besides finishing as the runner-up in Rome and Charleston.
A shock first-round defeat at Roland Garros couldn't dent the 27-year-old's confidence. She bounced back strongly on grass to take the title in Berlin and has now extended her winning streak to 11 matches to reach her maiden Grand Slam final at SW19.
Her last couple of matches at Wimbledon have proved to be difficult, but the third seed was able to summon her best tennis on time to grab three-set wins in each. Jabeur beat Tatjana Maria 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 in the semifinals to clinch a spot in the summit clash.
The achievement has enabled the trailblazing Tunisian to make history for her country. She is now the first Tunisian, first Arab and the first African woman to reach a Grand Slam final in the Open Era.
Ons the way to a first Grand Slam final 🇹🇳
@Ons_Jabeur defeats Tatjana Maria 6-2, 3-6, 6-1
#Wimbledon | #CentreCourt100 https://t.co/tnNObItxw3
Jabeur will now be eager to keep her unbeaten run alive and lay her hands on the Venus Rosewater Dish on Saturday.
Moscow-born Kazakh Elena Rybakina, meanwhile, began the 2022 season in stellar fashion. She reached the final in Adelaide before losing to the then-World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty.
Since then, it's been a struggle for the 23-year-old to match that high. A slew of injuries and illnesses curbed the World No. 23 from building on that great start to the year.
Rybakina went on to make just a solitary quarterfinal at the BNP Paribas Open in her next 13 events before arriving at Wimbledon.
It was at the grasscourt Major that she finally rediscovered her rhythm again. The 17th seed disposed of quality opponents that included Bianca Andreescu, Qinwen Zheng, Petra Martic and Ajla Tomljanovic to make it into the last four.
She then beat former champion Simona Halep 6-3, 6-3 to book her place in her maiden Major final.
Rybakina has lost just one set (against Tomljanovic) en route to becoming the first-ever player from Kazakhstan, male or female, to make the singles final at a Grand Slam.
She will hope to bring forth her power game one last time against Jabeur on Saturday with a highly-coveted Slam title at stake.
Rybakina roars onto the biggest stage
The 23-year-old defeats Simona Halep 6-3, 6-3 to reach her first Grand Slam final
#Wimbledon | #CentreCourt100 https://t.co/u0jfhZlDEA
Ons Jabeur vs Elena Rybakina head-to-head
Ons Jabeur leads the head-to-head against Elena Rybakina 2-1. The Kazakh won their first-ever meeting in Wuhan in 2019 in three sets. Jabeur bounced back to avenge that defeat with a three-set win in Dubai in 2021.
Their most recent meeting was in Chicago last fall, where the Tunisian was leading 6-4, 3-2 when Rybakina retired.
Ons Jabeur vs Elena Rybakina odds
(All odds are sourced from Oddschecker.)
Ons Jabeur vs Elena Rybakina prediction
Serves will make a huge difference in this contest. Elena Rybakina leads the ace count on the WTA tour this season with 219 aces so far, including the five she served during her straight-sets win against Halep.
Rybakina relentlessly attacked Halep’s second serve. The former champion landed only 52% first serves on a disastrous serving day that saw her cough up nine double faults.
Although Ons Jabeur produced four aces in her semi-final win over Tatjana Maria, she landed only 49% first serves. That number needs drastic improvement before facing someone as aggressive as Rybakina.
The Kazakh has a tailor-made game for grass. Along with her big serve, she takes the ball early and hits flat off both wings, making it tough to counter the pace of her shots.
Jabeur might not have a serve as impressive as Rybakina's, but she certainly makes up for it with her solid ground game. Not only is she feisty from the back of the court, she complements it well with her exceptional variety.
Her array of slices, dropshots and sidespins make it pretty tough to read her game and anticipate her shots.
Jabeur will also look for opportunities to keep Rybakina pinned at the baseline and move forward. It was a feature that came to the fore against Maria as she won 28 of her 38 net approaches.
The Tunisian has also shown tremendous improvement on the mental side of her game in recent times. Rybakina, on the other hand, hasn't been as strong under pressure, although she has been spectacular throughout the Wimbledon fortnight.
Overall, Jabeur's fabulous consistency and amazing guile give her the edge in this clash, but Rybakina surely won't bow out without a fight.
Pick: Ons Jabeur to win in three sets.