Elina Svitolina vs Ana Ivanovic prediction

Elina Svitolina, currently 33^rd on the WTA ranking list is playing against Ana Ivanovic, currently 12^th in the rankings.

Ana Ivanovic has, easier than expected, beaten Caroline Garcia from France in the first round match with 2:0 (6:3, 6:1). On the other hand, Svitolina hardly had time to warm up in the first match, since Petra Martic from Croatia forfeited it after 5:0 for Svitolina in the first set.

Ana Ivanovic is the favorite in this match, considering the previous encounters of the two. Ivanovic won all of the three matches they’ve played, but the warning came from their last match, played this year in Indian Wells. Ana won it 2:1 (4:6, 7:5, 7:6). When we look at the result we clearly see that the match was very tight, and that Svitolina was very close to victory. When we look at the previous two encounters, it can be noticed that Svitolina made big improvements in her game, which isn’t strange, considering she is only 20 years old.

She made a great jump in the rankings list this year; she is currently at her career high spot on the WTA lisy. On the first Grand Slam tournament she made it to the 3^rd round, and beat the experienced Svetlana Kouznetsova in the first match. She also beat high flying Bouchard in Miami, and Barthel last week in Nurnberg, so she is really a player to watch for, and it is expected that she will make an even bigger breakthrough this year. Young players are always dangerous to “big guns” such as Ana Ivanovic, because they know their game, they trained and prepared for them extensively, and they have a great motivation to beat the top tier players. Older players must constantly find motivation and not let younger, upcoming players to upset them, and that will be a problem for Ana Ivanovic to solve in this match.

Svitolina is a solid all-round player. She improved rapidly throughout the last two years, but she isn’t a constant threat to the top 10 players, since she still has fluctuations in her game and form. She had a streak of poor matches this season, when she lost to lower ranked players, but it seems that she found her form just before the Roland Garros.

In this match, it is expected that Ana Ivanovic will dominate with her forehand and go for winning straight points. Problems could occur for her if she makes a lot of unforced errors, which Svitolina could capitalize on.

Head to head

Ana Ivanovic leads 3:0 in head to head matches. All three matches were played on hard courts

Prediction

Considering all of these facts, Ana Ivanovic should win in a tight match, but Svitolina could certainly capitalize on the potential chances given from Ivanovic.