Madrid Open 2024: Elena Rybakina vs Lucia Bronzetti preview, head-to-head, prediction, live streaming details

Published at :April 26, 2024 at 1:19 PM

Modified at :April 27, 2024 at 6:20 PM

(Courtesy : Getty Images)

Elena Rybakina has reached five finals and won three titles in her last seven tournaments.

World No. #4 Elena Rybakina will face Lucia Bronzetti in the second round of Madrid Open 2024 hoping to continue her fine run in 2024 that has seen her reach five finals in her last seven tournaments and win three of those. The 24-year-old arrived in Madrid having won the title in Stuttgart and the Porsche that came along with it. She also leads with three titles and 26 match wins in 2024.

Rybakina held off two-time defending champion Iga Swiatek to make her maiden appearance in the Tennis Grand Prix finals.

Should Rybakina make a deep run in Madrid, she is mathematically in with a chance to unseat defending champion Aryna Sabalanka from the World No. 2 position. Rybakina and Sabalenka are in the same half of the draw, and the duo can run into each other in the semifinals.

While Rybakina was the beneficiary of a first-round bye, Lucia Bronzetti found herself drawn against France’s Varvara Gracheva. Bronzetti dispatched Gracheva without any fuss posting a straight-set win 6-3, 6-3 and taking the win the second career match against the Frenchwoman in as many meetings.

Elena Rybakina vs Lucia Bronzetti match details

Date: April 26th, Friday.

Time: 2:30 PM (IST) – Tentative

Venue: Manzanares Park Tennis Center, Madrid.

Elena Rybakina vs Lucia Bronzetti preview

Lucia Bronzetti will be playing in the round of 64 in the Madrid Open for the first time. The Italian fell in the qualifying rounds in 2022 and the first round in 2023 to Lesia Tsurenko.

Bronzetti faces the seasoned Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, for a chance to progress. The World No. 4 will be hoping to make an impact in an event where she has historically not done as well as she would have liked. Rybakina’s round of 16 appearance in the 2022 edition of the Madrid Open remains her best.

The Kazakh player will be looking to fix that shortcoming, and victory in the match against Bronzetti will be an important first step in that direction.

Bronzetti and Rybakina’s half of the draw houses two of the top five seeds – Rybakina (4) and Sabalenka (2). The competition, however, will be a little less forgiving than what is present in the top half. Iga Swiatek (1), Coco Gauff (3), and Maria Sakkari (5) can all deliver when the chips are down.

The player who wins will go on to meet either Egyptian Mayar Sherif or Marta Kostyuk in the third round.

Head-to-head records

Matches – 0

Elena Rybakina – 0

Lucia Bronzetti – 0

Rybakina and Bronzetti, whose birthdays are just a year apart, will play their first head-to-head match in the 2024 Madrid Open WTA 1000 tournament.

Where and how to watch live streaming and TV broadcast of Elena Rybakina vs Lucia Bronzetti, Madrid Open 2024, second round match in India?

Indian viewers can tune into the second round Madrid Open game between Elena Rybakina and Lucia Bronzetti on Tennis Channel and WTA TV. Both online streaming services make up for the absence of the premier women’s event on mainstream media.

Prediction

Elena Rybakina is 9-1 going back to last month’s Miami Open and has maintained a four-win match winning streak since then. The Kazakh is also second in the race to the WTA Finals behind current leader, Iga Swiatek. Only 142 points separate the top two contenders in the lead-up to the year-ending event.

Lucia Bronzetti has three wins from five games, with Anhelina Kalinina (32) being the highest-ranked player she has defeated since the beginning of March.

Bronzetti will need to up her game to have a fighting chance against one of the top servers in women’s tennis. There is a stark difference between the two when it comes down to the quantity of aces served.

Rybakina has sent down 207 aces this season and won 80.4% of service games, compared to 33 aces and 65.3% of service games won by Lucia Bronzetti. The Italian narrows the gap to an extent, winning 64.4% of first serve points against 72.4% by Rybakina.

The World No. #4 has won 35.6% of return games while converting 40.8% of break point opportunities. Bronzetti, meanwhile, managed to net 26.8% of return games and convert 33.1% of break-point opportunities.

Elena Rybakina can be banked on to win the second-round meeting with Lucia Bronzetti, taking at least one set in love.

Result: Elena Rybakina to win in straight sets.

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