The Belarusian hasn’t lost a set yet in 2023, she won the Adelaide tournament and is now dreaming of the big shot in Australia
And now Aryna Sabalenka really hopes for it. The 24-year-old Belarusian tennis player seems ready to win the first Grand Slam of her career after never reaching the final: three semifinals, as many defeats. Against Pliskova and Fernandez in 2021 (at Wimbledon and US Open), last year in New York against Swiatek. The number 5 in the world, virtually 4th in the ranking, got off to a great start in 2023: nine wins out of as many games, zero sets lost and the title in Adelaide. By reaching the final in Melbourne, she would become the number 2 in the WTA rankings.
The prediction
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The obstacle for Sabalenka towards the final will be the surprise of the women’s draw: Magda Linette. The Polish you don’t expect: not Iga Swiatek, number 1 in the world and defeated by Elena Rybakina in the round of 16, but the 45th player in the ranking, virtually 22nd thanks to the semifinal at the Australian Open. Prior to this tournament, Linette had never made it past the third round of a Major – six out of six losses. Will the fairy tale continue, even going as far as the final? After beating four top seeds (Kontaveit, Alexandrova, Garcia and Pliskova), anything is possible. There could be a tight start to the match, with perhaps Sabalenka taking home the first hard fought set and then accelerating: the Over 9.5 game in the first set is given at 2.30 by Sisal, 2.25 by Bet365, 2.23 by PlanetWin.
Sabalenka-Linette, the odds
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For all the major bookmakers there is no match: Sabalenka is the clear favorite. The odds for Aryna to win are 1.22 for Betfair, 1.18 for PlanetWin, 1.17 for Better. While Linette’s success is given at 5.00 by Sisal and Bet365, at 4.90 by GoldBet. And for operators, the most probable result is the victory of the Belarusian in two sets: 1.65 for Betfair, 1.61 for Bet365, 1.50 for Sisal.
Previous
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In the two games played between these two players there was no history: very clear victories by Sabalenka. The Belarusian prevailed in 2018 in Tianjin (6-1 6-3) and in 2021 in the first round of the Tokyo Olympics (6-2 6-1).
January 25 – 12:56
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