Italian Open 2023: Iga Swiatek vs Elena Rybakina preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds, and pick

Fixture: (1) Iga Swiatek vs (7) Elena Rybakina.

Date: May 17, 2023.

Tournament: Italian Open 2023.

Round: Quarterfinal.

Venue: Foro Italico, Rome, Italy.

Category: WTA 1000.

Surface: Outdoor clay.

Prize money: €3,572,618.

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video.

---

Iga Swiatek vs Elena Rybakina preview

Iga Swiatek at the 2023 Italian Open.

Defending champion Iga Swiatek will lock horns with reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Italian Open on Wednesday.

Swiatek commenced her title defense with wins over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Lesia Tsurenko. She dropped a total of just two games across both of her matches. She was up against Donna Vekic in the fourth round.

Swiatek was off to yet another fast start as she jumped to a 4-1 lead in the first set. Vekic fought back by claiming the next two games, but the World No. 1 was not to be denied. She bagged the next couple of games to clinch the set.

The second set was quite close, with neither player getting a whiff of a break point until the very end. Swiatek snagged the decisive in the ninth game to go 5-4 up. Serving for the match wasn't easy, but after erasing two break points, the defending champion completed a 6-3, 6-4 win.

Rybakina moved past Jasmine Paolini and Anna Kalinskaya to set up a fourth round date against Marketa Vondrousova. The Kazakh dropped serve in the very first game of the match but bounced back by reeling off the next four games to go 4-1 up.

Rybakina defended the lead quite well, but she faced some resistance while serving for the set. But she fended off the three break points that she faced to claim the opener. The Kazakh broke her opponent's serve twice as she raced to a 4-0 lead in the second set.

Vondrousova went on a three-game run after that to make the match a little more competitive. However, Rybakina captured the next couple of games to win the match 6-3, 6-3.

---

Iga Swiatek vs Elena Rybakina head-to-head

Rybakina leads Swiatek 2-1 in the head-to-head. She won their previous encounter at the 2023 BNP Paribas Open in straight sets.

---

Iga Swiatek vs Elena Rybakina odds

Player	Moneyline	Handicap Bets	Total Games
Iga Swiatek
Elena Rybakina

(Odds will be added once they're available)

---

Iga Swiatek vs Elena Rybakina prediction

Elena Rybakina at the 2023 Italian Open.

Both players were quite solid during their respective fourth round encounters to make the last eight. Rybakina has managed to get the better of Swiatek twice this season, but now they're set to face off on the latter's favored surface.

Swiatek's forehand is simply monstrous on the surface, and she utilizes it to great effect to bully her opposition into submission. This is quite evident from the one-sided scorelines in the Pole's favor.

Rybakina has made Swiatek's life tough by pouncing on her weak second serve and her aggressive baseline play. However, she won't get to do that as efficiently on clay. Expect the defending champion to snap her losing streak against the Kazakh.

Pick: Iga Swiatek to win in straight sets.