Elena Rybakina v Jelena Ostapenko Betting Tips [23 January 2023]

A mouthwatering battle between Elena Rybakina and Jelena Ostapenko will usher in the quarterfinals of the Women’s Singles of the 2023 Australian Open on Tuesday. Reigning Wimbledon champion Rybakina will for the third time go head-to-head with 2017 French Open champion Ostapenko on an outdoor hard court at Melbourne Park with the winner progressing to a first semi-final in the Australian Open, where a tie with either third seed Jessica Pegula or two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka awaits. Ostapenko has won the previous two meetings with Rybakina. The 17th seed won the first meeting in Austria, 7-5, 6-1 on an indoor hard court in 2019 and followed that up with another straight sets win (6-4, 6-1) two years later in Eastbourne. The 25-year-old is playing in the fifth round for the first time in Australia having never gone past the third round in seven previous attempts. She defeated seventh seed Coco Gauff 2-0 to advance to this round and has only dropped one set thus far which was against the unseeded Anna Bondar in the second round. The Latvian came into Melbourne on woeful form with just one win in both Adelaide tournaments but has done well here and could find herself as one of the favourites to win it all, especially if she advances into the last four. She is currently placed 11th on the WTA live ranking, up six places which is her highest rank in 10 months.

Elena Rybakina is playing in the quarter-finals also for the first time. She exited in the second round in each of her last two appearances with last year’s edition seeing her retire in the second set of her match with Zhang Shuai due to an injury. It is also the third time that she is playing in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam. Just like Ostapenko, the 23-year-old has only dropped one set in her run in Melbourne which was in the third round against world number 11 Danielle Collins. She defeated triple Grand Slam champion and world number one Iga Swiatek 2-0 in just one hour and 30 minutes to advance to this round. The Russian-born player, now a naturalised Kazakhstani, is ranked 25th in the world but should have been in the WTA top five were it not for the ban on Russian and Belarussian players at the 2022 Wimbledon Open (which she won). The decision forced the WTA and ATP to strip the tournament of its ranking points. She is currently 16th on the live ranking, up 10 places from 25th. Both Rybakina and Ostapenko are tied at eighth place on the live WTA Race ranking.

Both these players are on good runs to start the year and stormed into this round with massive straight-set wins over tournament favourites. Ostapenko has the head-to-head record in her favour but she has been inconsistent on the big stage ever since winning in Roland Garros. We feel Rybakina will advance due to her recent form as well as the fact she feels that she has something to prove after Wimbledon.