{"id":39845,"date":"2021-07-28T11:03:31","date_gmt":"2021-07-28T15:03:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=39845"},"modified":"2021-07-28T11:03:31","modified_gmt":"2021-07-28T15:03:31","slug":"tokyo-olympics-womens-semifinal-predictions-svitolina-vondrousova","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2021\/07\/28\/tokyo-olympics-womens-semifinal-predictions-svitolina-vondrousova\/","title":{"rendered":"Tokyo Olympics Women’s Semifinal Predictions Including Marketa Vondrousova vs Elina Svitolina"},"content":{"rendered":"

Much has been made of the withdrawals<\/a> and early upsets<\/a>, but the women’s semifinal lineup at the Tokyo Olympics features four world-class athletes. Vondrousova is a former Grand Slam finalist, Svitolina has won the WTA Finals, Elena Rybakina is a rising star, and Belida Bencic is a Top 5 player who reached the 2019 US Open final. Three of these four women will win medals, but only two will move on to the Gold Medal match. Our writers offer their thoughts on these matches. Predicting these matches are Jim Smith, Anurag Sahay, and Yesh Ginsburg.<\/p>\n

Tokyo Olympics Women’s Semifinal Predictions<\/h2>\n

Belinda Bencic vs Elena Rybakina<\/h4>\n

Jim:<\/em>
\nBencic\u2019s run has come almost out of nowhere, but it has been some effort from the Swiss. Bencic–who is also in the semifinals in the women\u2019s doubles–has already accounted for both the French Open champion<\/a> and runner-up, but she will face another stern test up against Rybakina. The Kazakh has not yet dropped a set with her first four opponents all unable to impose themselves against her formidable power. Bencic won\u2019t be swept aside, but with Rybakina in this sort of form it\u2019s hard to see anyone stopping her.
\nPrediction: Rybakina in 3<\/em><\/p>\n

Anurag:<\/em>
\nRybakina is in brutal form. She has not been stretched at the Tokyo Olympics yet as she recorded imperious wins over all her opponents. The Swiss, on the other hand, is riding her country\u2019s hopes in the absence of Roger Federer<\/a>, who she hoped to team up with in mixed doubles. She overcame Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in three sets in a match that saw the latter visibly tired through the entire third set. Since she turned professional, Bencic has already bagged four upsets of No.1 players of their time.
\nBencic and Rybakina are both young and rose to fame in a rather short span of time. Interestingly enough, their game styles complement each other, with one\u2019s weakness being the other\u2019s strength. A baseliner like Rybakina, Bencic plays a largely tactical and thoughtful game, hits the ball on the rise, and will want to surprise her opponent by cutting the ball short or creating sharp angles. Rybakina on the other hand is the quicker of the two. This should be the more absorbing of the two Semifinals. While either lady stands an equal chance to win, I sense that the Swiss might prevail.
\nPrediction: Bencic in 3<\/em><\/p>\n

Yesh:<\/em>
\nElena Rybakina is absolutely blasting the entire field here. She looks just as good now as when she took out Serena Williams in dominant fashion<\/a> at the French Open. Bencic has played well and been impressive all event, but it’s going to be tough for anyone to beat Rybakina.
\nPrediction: Rybakina in 2<\/em><\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>