Match Details
Fixture: Ajla Tomljanovic vs (17) Elena Rybakina
Date: July 6, 2022
Tournament: Wimbledon 2022
Round: Quarterfinals.
Venue: Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom.
Category: Grand Slam.
Surface: Grass.
Prize money: £40,350,000
Live telecast: USA - ESPN & Tennis Channel | Canada - TSN | UK - BBC & Eurosport | India - Star Sports & Disney+ Hotstar app
Ajla Tomljanovic vs Elena Rybakina preview
17th seed Elena Rybakina takes on Ajla Tomljanovic in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon on Wednesday. The Kazakh started the season by reaching the final of the Adelaide International 1. However, she lost to Ashleigh Barty in straight sets.
Rybakina reached her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal at the Indian Wells Open with wins over Alison van Uytvanck, Victoria Azarenka and Viktorija Golubic. However, she lost to eventual runner-up Maria Sakkari.
The 23-year-old had a pretty disappointing grasscourt season leading up to Wimbledon as she suffered a second-round exit at the Libema Open before losing her first match at the Rothesay International in Eastbourne.
Rybakina was seeded 17th at Wimbledon and beat Coco Vandewegh 7-6(2), 7-5 in the first round. She then ousted Bianca Andreescu, winning 6-4, 7-6(5) before defeating teenager Zheng Qinwen 7-6(4), 7-5. The Kazakh triumphed over Petra Martic 7-5, 6-3 to reach her second Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Tomljanovic has won 19 out of 35 matches so far this season, reaching a few quarterfinals on the WTA tour before her second at Wimbledon.
One of these came on grass at the Nottingham Open, where the Aussie beat Wang Xinyu and Katie Boulter before retiring against Viktorija Golubic due to an injury. She also reached the last eight earlier in the year in Istanbul and Morocco.
Tomljanovic reached the second round of the Rothesay International in Eastbourne by beating Aleksandra Krunic. However, she lost to eventual runner-up Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets.
The 29-year-old was up against 18th seed Jill Teichmann in the opening round of Wimbledon and won 6-2, 6-3. She followed this up with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Catherine Harrison to reach the third round. Here, Tomljanovic came back from a set down to beat 13th seed Barbora Krejcikova 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.
In the fourth round, the Australian once again overturned a one-set deficit by defeating Alize Cornet 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. She thus made it to the quarterfinals of Wimbledon for the second year running.
Ajla Tomljanovic vs Elena Rybakina head-to-head
Rybakina leads 1-0 head-to-head against Tomljanovic, having previously beaten her 6-4, 6-0 at last year's Madrid Open.
The winner of the match takes on either 16th seed Simona Halep or Amanda Anisimova in the Wimbledon semifinals.
Ajla Tomljanovic vs Elena Rybakina odds
All odds sourced by Oddschecker.
Ajla Tomljanovic vs Elena Rybakina prediction
Rybakina is a higher-ranked player and has been in better form than Tomljanovic this season, so she will enter the match as the favorite. However, the Aussie should not be written off, considering the fact that she has won 13 out of 18 matches on grass since 2021.
Rybakina is yet to drop a set at Wimbledon and has been very strong on her serve, winning 78.6% of points on her first serve (121 out of 154).
She has also served 29 aces so far and will look to serve more of those against Tomljanovic. The Kazakh's strong, flat groundstrokes along with her efficient net play will make things difficult for her opponent.
Tomljanovic's hard-hitting game is well suited for grass but she has to be careful not to accumulate too many unforced errors. The Aussie has won 66.5% of her first serve points (121 out of 188). However, her second serve does need a bit of improvement, having won only 41.1% of points (49 out of 119).
Rybakina and Tomljanovic could play out a tightly-contested match and the Kazakh's current form should be enough to take her through to a maiden Grand Slam semifinal.
Pick: Rybakina to win in straight sets.