Damien Kayat previews the WTA Tour’s Adelaide Open Ro16 matches as Veronika Kudermetova faces Bianca Andreescu and Elena Rybakina takes on Marta Kostyuk.
2023 WTA Tour
WTA 500
Adelaide International
Memorial Drive Tennis Centre (Outdoor Hardcourt)
Selected Round of 16 Matches
4 January
Veronika Kudermetova 69/100 | Bianca Andreescu 11/10
25-year-old Russian Veronika Kudermetova is coming off a year of relentless consistency on tour. She never added to her loan WTA title (she won the 2021 Charleston Open).
But she was just a bastion of consistency, ultimately finishing ninth in the singles rankings and second in doubles. She also played well during the early hardcourt portion of the season, reaching finals in Melbourne and Dubai.
She would also appear in her maiden WTA 1000 quarterfinal at Indian Wells before reaching the quarterfinals at Roland Garros. She finished the season powerfully, with semi-final runs at the Pan Pacific Open, Jasmin Open and Silicon Valley Classic.
The Russian also lost to Ons Jabuer in the fourth round of the US Open. She just blew American Amanda Anisimova off the court, winning the last ten games of the match. She is a dogged competitor who fights for every single point. In that sense she reminds me of Barbora Krejcikova.
This feels like a crucial season in the career of 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu. The Canadian and former World No.4 will have one major priority this season: stay fit.
She has struggled with injuries of late and missed the first three months of last year’s campaign. But she did come back with some pretty encouraging results before petering out towards the end of the campaign.
She reached the Rome quarters at her first attempt before a maiden grass-court final at the Bad Homburg Open. The hard-court specialist enjoyed a fantastic 2019 campaign, winning the US Open, Indian Wells and the Canadian Open.
The 22-year-old would also go on to reach the final of the 2021 Miami Open. So, she is no stranger to elite results on harder surfaces. She has struggled in her attempt to add more aggression to her game.
The Canadian rose to prominence as a big-hitting player who had the ability to mix it up with a variety of slices and cunning court-craft. But she seems intent on taking the initiative in matches and this has taken some time for her to adjust to.
However, her opening victory against a beleaguered Garbine Muguruza was just what the doctor ordered.
Verdict: Andreescu to win in three at 4/1
Kudermetova won their only encounter at last year’s French Open. That came as little surprise given the Russian’s penchant for clay.
Common sense seems to dictate that the Russian has all the momentum going into this one. But I still think the Canadian has the capacity to blow any player away. I just have this feeling that she will learn to harness her new aggression this year.
Elena Rybakina 32/100 | Marta Kostyuk 47/20
What a surreal year it was for 23-year-old Kazakh Elena Rybakina. She started the year ranked 14th in the world. But she comes into this year ranked 21st in the world.
Yet, she somehow managed to capture her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon. It made her the first Kazakh- man or woman- to win a Major. But her season fell apart completely in the aftermath of that victory, culminating in a first-round loss to qualifier Clara Burel at the US Open.
Still, I don’t think she will trade a second of it. She returns to Adelaide this week to the scene of her only other final appearance in 2022. She ultimately lost to then-World No.1 Ashleigh Barty in last year’s final. But it clearly showcases her ability to play on these fast courts.
She overcame a slow start to take down Danielle Collins in her opening match of the year. She had a dreadful first set, with a first-serve percentage of 45.2 %. But that increased as the match progressed, and she ultimately ended the match with 14 aces. She will take some beating if that monstrous serve gets ticking.
20-year-old Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk is coming off a pretty dismal 2022 campaign. She started last year well enough, breaking into the world’s top 50 courtesy of a third-round run at the Aussie Open.
But her season really capitulated and she will be desperate for a more impactful 2023. The current World No.71 has come through qualifying this week with flying colours.
She only dropped 14 games in qualifying and she just overcame promising ITF graduate Jaimee Fourlis in three sets. Kostyuk has all the ingredients to become a top-level player. But she just lacks the consistency to string together consecutive wins against top players.
But in Elena Rybakina she faces a top-level talent whose game is often erratic. Could this be her chance to pull off a proper upset?
Verdict: Rybakina to win in straight sets at 15/10
This will be the first career meeting between these two. I was tempted to edge Kostyuk’s way. You can generally bank on a couple of wacky results in these early events (there have been a plethora already in Adelaide). But I think Rybakina is just perfectly suited for these conditions. I expect her to blow Kostyuk away with ease.
