Betting-Previews.com is back with 2021 WTA US Open betting picks and predictions for two quarter-final games, slated for Tuesday, September 7. Here are our betting picks for Elina Svitolina vs Leylah Annie Fernandez and Aryna Sabalenka vs Barbora Krejcikova.
Elina Svitolina vs Leylah Annie Fernandez
When: Tuesday, September 7 – 14:00 EDT
Where: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York
Weather: Sunny, 24°C
Elina Svitolina breezed through her first four opponents at the 2021 US Open and is now only one step away from making it into the semi-finals for the first time since 2019. Looking back at her recent results, it’s more than fair to say that the Ukrainian tennis star has yet to be tested, seeing how she has won all of her opening four games in straight sets.
That includes wins against Rebecca Marino (6-2, 6-3), Rebeka Masarova (6-2, 7-5), Daria Kasatkina (6-4, 6-2), and Simona Halep (6-3, 6-3), who Svitolina beat on Sunday. While Svitolina had to face tougher opponents with each passing round, that hasn’t stopped her from delivering – and it seems like that while the quality of opponents has been increasing, so has her level of play.
Even before the 2021 US Open, Svitolina has been showing great form. Even though she hasn’t achieved much this season, Svitolina has managed to claim the title in Chicago. How much should you value that success is up to debate given that the tournament wasn’t exactly stacked; however, Svitolina hasn’t shown any signs of struggle at the event and it has now become very clear that the 26-year-old still has a lot left in the tank.
Leylah Annie Fernandez continued her miracle run on Sunday when she eliminated Angelique Kerber (4-6, 7-6, 6-2) with a phenomenal performance. Although it seemed like the German would win the match with ease, Fernandez found her stride just in time to reverse-sweep the current no.17 in the world, adding another big scalp to her resume.
Fernandez was also the one to eliminate Naomi Osaka (5-7, 7-6, 6-4) in R3, having made it past Kaia Kanepi (7-5, 7-5) and Ana Konjuh (7-6, 6-3) in the opening two rounds of play. While Fernandez is undeniably at the top of her game, we should mention that her win against Osaka isn’t as impressive as it may seem on paper – the Japanese tennis star isn’t in her best form and is supposedly struggling with her mental health.
We have a match between two players who are in excellent form and seem to be peaking just at the right time to challenge the trophy. However, it’s tough to make a case for Fernandez.
She has shown a lot of quality over the tournament, but no matter how you look at this match, Svitolina is the better player, and by far the toughest opponent Fernandez has faced at the 2021 US Open so far. Svitolina should get it done in two sets!
Prediction: Elina Svitolina -1.5 sets – 2.00 at Sportmarket
Aryna Sabalenka vs Barbora Krejcikova
When: Tuesday, September 7 – 19:00 EDT
Where: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York
Weather: Sunny, 24°C
The current no.2, Aryna Sabalenka has been playing extremely well over the season. She has made it to the semi-finals in Wimbledon and emulated that success in Canada. But unfortunately, the Belarus tennis star had to admit defeat to Karolina Pliskova, who eliminated her from both tournaments with 2-1 and 2-0, respectively.
Regardless, Sabalenka has yet to disappoint at the 2021 US Open. Besides her close series against Nina Stojanovic (6-4, 6-7, 6-0) in R1, the 23-year-old has won all of her remaining three bouts in straight sets – against Tamara Zidansek, Danielle Collins, and Elise Mertens, who she beat 6-4, 6-1 on Monday.
Her next opponent, Barbora Krejcikova, was just as impressive throughout the opening four rounds of the Grand Slam. She has yet to drop a single set, having secured four consecutive 2-0 sweeps against the likes of Astra Sharma (6-0, 6-4), Christina McHale (6-3, 6-1), Kamilla Rakhimova (6-4, 6-2), and most recently against Garbine Muguruza (6-3, 7-6).
If we compare the two tennis players and what they’ve produced so far, you should show a bit more respect to Krejcikova, largely due to their phenomenal performance against world no.10, Muguruza, on Monday and the fact that she has yet to drop a set.
It seems like the Czech keeps on finding more and continues to improve with each passing round. While you can’t say that Sabalenka hasn’t stepped up her game since her iffy three-set win in R1, we favour Krejcikova more. She is on a roll and has all the tools needed to upset the current no.2.
Prediction: Barbora Krejcikova to win – 2.49 at Sportmarket
