Elena Rybakina takes on Elina Svitolina in the fourth round (R16) match at the 2024 French Open. Who’ll win this battle between the current number 4 versus the former world number 3? Svitolina has already made her intentions pretty much clear. She said that she’ll have to prepare the “right strategy” and then execute that in the “right way” to give herself a chance to beat Elena Rybakina. The Kazakhstani tennis star has improved a lot since their last meeting, but her frequent injuries and health concerns have been one of her biggest opponents in her career so far.

Recently, Rybakina opened up about her sleeping difficulties and their harmful after-effects on her recovery process. But if we look at her form this year, she has been absolutely phenomenal this season. Elena Rybakina has already won three titles in the 2024 season and she has made two finals, one QF, and one SF appearance in her previous tournaments this year. In comparison, Elina Svitolina’s best result came at the start of this season when she reached the finals of the ASB Classic.

Elena Rybakina vs Elina Svitolina: Preview

Elena Rybakina hasn’t yet dropped a set in Paris. She defeated Belgium’s Elise Mertens by 6- 4, 6- 2 in the third-round clash. Rybakina hit just three aces in that match and committed two double faults. Her first-serve win percentage was 75% and her second-serve win percentage was 50%. The Kazakhstani tennis star converted five of her six breakpoints against the Belgian opponent.

Rybakina has hammered a staggering 229 aces so far this season and committed 76 double faults. She has won 80.9% of her service games and 35.5% of her return games. Even her opponent has showcased some really good tennis this year. This match surely has all the ingredients to be one of the best matches in the fourth round of the 2024 French Open.

On the other hand, Elina Svitolina defeated Ana Bogdan by 7-5,6-2 in her previous match at this tournament. She hit four aces against the Romanian and committed three double faults. Her first serve win percentage was 54% but it dropped a little to 52% on the second serve. However, Svitolina converted seven of her ten breakpoints against Bogdan.

Looking at her overall stats this season, the Ukrainian tennis star has hit 62 aces and committed 47 double faults. She won 68.1% of her service games and 40% of her return games. But how many matches she has previously won against this Kazakhstani opponent?

Rybakina vs Svitolina: Head-to-Head

Both the players have met each other on three occasions previously. Currently, Elina Svitolina leads the H2H score with a 2-1 margin. Their first meeting was in the finals of the 2020 Internationaux de Strasbourg and in that match, the Ukrainian defeated Rybakina by 6-4,1-6,6-2. After that, they yet against crosse roads with each other in 2021 but in Eastbourne this time! Elena Rybakina had won the R16 match this time, she defeated Svitolina in two sets.

However, their latest meeting came in Tokyo (2021) at the 2020 Summer Olympics. In that match, Svitolina yet again sealed a victory and took the lead in their H2H. She defeated Rybakina by 1-6,7-6(5),6-4 in that match. Talking about stats, Elena Rybakina hit four aces and committed five double faults while Elina Svitolina hit four aces and committed six double faults. Svitolina won 67% of her first serve and 53% of her second serve while it was 65% and 57% respectively for the Kazakhstani. However, Rybakina converted four of her seven breakpoints in that match, but Svitolina could only manage to convert three of her nine breakpoints.

Prediction: Rybakina to win this match in three sets

Elena Rybakina has reached the QF of this mega tournament in 2021. Whereas, Elina Svitolina will be aiming to reach the QF of the French Open for the fifth time in her career so far. But Rybakina has been in red-hot form this year and she has a win-loss record of 30-6 this season. Svitolina has also been quite impressive this year, recording 15-10 this season, but looking at the deep runs into the tournaments this year, the Kazakhstani looks slightly ahead in this. However, Elina Svitolina surely has the ability to disrupt any equations in this epic clash.

It’ll be Ryabkina’s aggressive baseline game versus Svitolina’s defensive baseline style of play. Elena Rybakina can generate enormous power on her serves and groundstrokes. The 6ft tennis star from Kazakhstan can move pretty quickly from one part of the court to another with her long reach. On the other hand, Elina Svitolina is capable of hitting low-risk winners from her defensive positions. She can turn defense to offense very swiftly during the matches. The Ukrainian has a strong backhand and an equally effective forehand. But is it enough to topple the in-form Rybakina? Perhaps not!