PREVIEW: WTA San Diego Open – Selected Round of 32 and Round of 16 Matches

2022 WTA Tour
WTA 500
San Diego Open
Barnes Tennis Centre, San Diego, United States (Outdoor Hardcourt)
Selected Round of 32 and Round of 16 Matches- 12th October

Round of 32

Garbine Muguruza (19/10) vs Elena Rybakina (4/10)

This should be an intriguing clash between two Wimbledon champs. Current Wimbledon champ Elena Rybakina will take on 2017 SW19 winner Garbine Muguruza.

What on earth has gone on with Muguruza this year? I really thought that the two-time Grand Slam champion would be a strong contender to taste Major success again this year.

She had reunited with Conchita Martinez and ended 2021 ranked number 3 in the world (largely due to a magnificent triumph at the WTA Finals). But this has slowly morphed into one of the worst seasons of the Spaniard’s career and she comes into this event with a 12-16 record for the year.

In fact, she has only won two consecutive matches twice during the entire year. Granted, one of those stretches came at the fairly recent US Open.

She looked good at Flushing Meadows, ultimately losing to Petra Kvitova in a tight 3rd Round match. But can she find some late-season form to salvage a bit of pride for the year?

Elena Rybakina is enjoying quite a ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ season. She actually started the campaign quite well, finishing runner-up at the Adelaide International.

But she then had struggles with fitness, withdrawing from the 2nd round at both the Aussie Open and St Petersburg Open. She then went pretty much under the radar leading into Wimbledon.

But she found something, roaring to her maiden Grand Slam title off the back of that mammoth serve. For the record, nobody has served more aces this year that Elena Rybakina. But her season went into pure rollercoaster mode after that. She was knocked out of the first-round of the US Open before a run to the final in Slovenia.

She then followed that with yet another first-round defeat at the Pan Pacific Open. But she actually arrives in San Diego off the back of a creditable semi-final run in the Czech Republic.

There she beat the likes of Kvitova and Madison Keys in a much more assured display. Which Rybakina will we be getting this week?

Verdict: Muguruza to win in three at 52/10- Rybakina leads the head-to-head with Muguruza 2-1, easily dismantling the Spaniard at this year’s Western and Southern Open. I’m opting for a bit of a surprise here.

Rybakina has been up and down the entire year and Muguruza did show some encouraging sings at the US Open.

She is just far too classy to remain in this rut forever. Rybakina may also be feeling the effects of a quick turnaround following the Ostrava Open.

Round of 16

Jessica Pegula (4) (1/7) vs Coco Vandeweghe (4/10)

Jessica Pegula’s season has been about as good as you can get without actually winning a title. She comes into this match with an extremely solid record of 35-17.

She reached her maiden WTA 1000 final in Madrid and also reached semi-finals in Miami and Canada. And she has really flexed her muscles on the Grand Slam stage, reaching the quarterfinals of every Slam outside of Wimbledon. She will be playing for the first time since losing to Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinal of the US Open. The current World No.5 will be looking to secure qualification for the season-ending WTA Finals with a strong showing this week.

Currently ranked 3rd in the Race to Fort Worth, Pegula just needs one more strong result coming in to join Swiatek and Jabeur in the annual showpiece.

Born into a legit American sporting dynasty, Coco Vandeweghe has always struggled to meet the expectations that come with being a Vandeweghe. And everything started so promisingly. She won the 2008 US Open girls’ title and looked set to be a fixture on the women’s tour. But things just haven’t gone to plan.

Not to say there haven’t been highs: she entered the top 10 in the world in 2017 after reaching two Grand Slam semi-finals. But the big-serving American hasn’t won a title since claiming her 2nd Rosmalen title in 2016. That’s insane.

She has oft been criticized for taking a slightly lackadaisical approach to fitness and training. Her best result on the tour proper this season was a quarterfinal run at the Charleston Open.

Currently ranked 138th in world, Vandeweghe is actually playing her first event since a first-round exit at the US Open. But she will feel slightly more confident after a tumultuous three-set victory against the struggling Sofia Kenin.

Verdict: Pegula to win in three at 11/4- This will just their 2nd meeting. And Vandeweghe surprisingly holds the advantage, beating Pegula earlier this year at the Charleston Open. It’s going to be interesting to see how fluid Pegula is after an extensive time away.

Vandeweghe is battle-ready and could put up quite a fight here. She will also be drawing from the positive energy of that Charleston win. But I still think Pegula will grind Vandeweghe out in three.