Maria Sakkari vs Elena Rybakina
15th February 1100hrs
Tennis – St Petersburg – WTA
Pick Rybakina
Bookmaker Betfair
Odds: 4/6 odds taken 12:43 GMT, Friday 14th February
It is the semi-final time in St Petersburg and this should be some fixture. Greek player Maria Sakkari has defied underdog match odds pretty much through this entire tournament. Now here she is on the brink of a place in the final. But she takes on a player who has been in cracking form this year.
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Rybakina can make it through to third 2020 Final
2020 has already been a big year for 20-year-old Elena Rybakina. She opened the season as runner up at the Shenzhen Open and the very next week went one better in winning the Hobart title in Australia. Her Australian Open campaign was cut short in the third round by Ashleigh Barty, but she has wasted no time in getting back into gear.
Rybakina won her first two matches at this tournament in straight sets. She was then pushed a little harder in a quarterfinal matchup against Oceane Dodin who had just pulled off a big career moment in beating Johanna Konta in the previous round. Now the challenge will get tougher for Ryabkina as she meets the hard-hitting Sakkari.
Looking at the players that Rybakina has earned wins over this season, including Karolina Pliskova and Elise Mertens, she has delivered in some bigger matches. Her season record is now at an impressive W14 L2.
That’s a busy year already that Kazakhstan player has had. This will be her first meeting with Sakkari. The impressive thing from Rybakina is a 78% success rate in service games this season, before the start of St Petersburg.
Sakkari causes another upset
Maria Sakkari looks to be really coming on strong at the moment and will give as good as he gets on Saturday. She opened in the first round against a qualifier and looked a little ring rusty in being taken to a tie-break in the deciding set.
But she then saw off Alize Cornet in straight sets before lining up against top-seed Belinda Bencic in the quarter-finals. Sakkari fought back from dropping the first set to win.
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That was a big underdog success for Sakkari in the match, who has carried on some good momentum that she built in reaching the round of sixteen at the Australian Open.
The strengths of the Greek player come from her service game and getting behind some powerful serves.
But she is a little more vulnerable in defence than her opponent and that could just be the downfall on the day for her in this high-pressure match.
Maria Sakkari vs Elena Rybakina Betting Advice
Rybakina may have the tools to stop the charge of Sakkari in St Petersburg. There have been impressive moments from Sakkari and she is a fighter. She looked tactically lost in the first set of her quarter-final against Bencic, before digging deep and power-hitting her way back into things.
Key Facts – Maria Sakkari vs Elena Rybakina Betting Tip
- Maria Sakkari beat top seed Belinda Bencic in the last round
- Maria Sakkari has won six of her last seven matches this season
- Elena Rybakina has a W14 L2match record this season
But that was a mentally tough match for her and right now, Rybakina looks to be playing the freer tennis of the two. The young Kazakhstan player has been superb when it comes to holding service games this season. She has the defence to get Sakkari;s serves back over the net to. Rybakina to win.
The best betting odds for Maria Sakkari vs Elena Rybakina
Maria Sakkari to win: 6/5 at Bet365
Elena Rybakina: 4/6 at Bet365
