It’s redemption time for Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek. Sabalenka and Swiatek each made miserable starts to their maiden WTA Finals campaigns on Thursday and will need a victory in this matchup to keep their chances of progressing past the group stage alive. But who will come out on top?
WTA Finals Day 4 Predictions
Aryna Sabalenka vs Iga Swiatek
Head-to-head: first meeting
Swiatek’s opening match of the week ended in tears. An awfully errant performance by the Pole saw her lose to Maria Sakkari in straight sets for the third consecutive time in 2021. Swiatek was seemingly unable to handle the unique conditions in Guadalajara, her heavy shots lacked control as she sprayed errors all over the court. The 2020 Roland Garros champion is a major champion for a reason, it will be interesting to see what type of response she can produce on Saturday.
Sabalenka definitely didn’t look like a world #2 when she began her Guadalajara campaign with an embarrassing straight set loss to Paula Badosa. Sabalenka led 4-2 against the Spaniard before conceding ten consecutive games. Sabalenka failed to control her powerful game, unforced errors become more and more common throughout her loss to Badosa. The Belarusian is a tough competitor and will undoubtedly be keen to produce a vastly improved performance on Saturday to keep her Guadalajara campaign alive.
This will be the first career meeting between the pair, an interesting matchup between two extremely powerful players. Whilst both are powerful, they go about their business in a different manner. Sabalenka has a far flatter style, Swiatek has a heavier power, both are very damaging when the find their range. I’m going to side with Swiatek here. Sabalenka looked especially bad in her opening match and has the type of game that is always going to be vulnerable in the high-altitude conditions in Guadalajara. Swiatek has more variety and problem-solving abilities in her game, expect her to be solid enough to get the better of a fading Sabalenka.
Prediction: Swiatek in 3
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