Madrid Open 2021: Elina Svitolina vs Jil Teichmann preview, head-to-head & prediction

Match details

Fixture: (4) Elina Svitolina vs Jil Teichmann

Date: 29 April 2021

Tournament: Mutua Madrid Open 2021

Round: First round (Round of 64)

Venue: Madrid, Spain

Category: WTA 1000

Surface: Red clay

Prize money: €2,614,465

Match timing: 11 am local time, 2.30 pm IST

Live telecast: USA - ESPN / Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video

Elina Svitolina vs Jil Teichmann preview

Fourth seed Elina Svitolina will kickstart her 2021 Mutua Madrid Open campaign with a first-round match against Jil Teichmann.

Svitolina is coming off a good run at the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart, where she made the semifinals. The Ukrainian beat Petra Kvitova and Angelique Kerber en route to the last four, before falling short to World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty.

Svitolina also did well at the Miami Open, where she finished as a semifinalist, losing to Barty once again. Her run at the Floridian event included wins over Petra Kvitova, Anastasija Sevastova, Ekaterina Alexandrova and Shelby Rogers.

The 26-year-old owns a 15-6 win-loss record on the WTA tour this year, and is one of the players to beat at the Madrid Open. That said, Svitolina doesn't have the best of records in the Spanish capital.

The Ukrainian has never progressed beyond the second round at Madrid, despite taking part in six editions of the event. Her win-rate at the tournament stands at a poor 33% which is surprising given her accomplishments in other clay events; Svitolina has two Italian Open titles to her name.

That said, her recent form suggests that her record at the Madrid Open could see an improvement this year.

Jil Teichmann, meanwhile, is yet to play on clay this year. She comes into the event with a 10-6 win-loss record.

Teichmann's best result so far this year has come at the Dubai Open, where she made the semifinals. The 23-year-old, however, pulled out midway through her first-round match at the subsequent Miami Open.

Elina Svitolina vs Jil Teichmann head-to-head

Elina Svitolina leads Jil Teichmann by a margin of 1-0 in the head-to-head. The two squared off at Strasbourg last year, with Svitolina winning 6-4, 6-3.

Elina Svitolina vs Jil Teichmann prediction

Jil Teichmann

Jill Teichmann does have the weapons to unsettle Elina Svitolina's natural game. The southpaw has an accurate wide serve that helps her open up the court for easy putaways. She is also a strong returner, so any feeble second serves that come from Svitolina's racket are likely to be treated with disdain.

Teichmann, however, would be aware of the fact that Svitolina has enjoyed considerable success against southpaws in recent weeks (Kvitova, Kerber). The Ukrainian's resolute defense and solid backhand often help her come up trumps in longer rallies, especially on slow clay.

Neither player has a particularly powerful serve, so the player who returns better on the day will have the upper hand in this fixture. And given Svitolina's consistency and confidence, she appears a slight favorite to progress to the second round.

Prediction: Elina Svitolina to win in three sets.