Wednesday, June 11

Sports Mole previews Thursday’s Queen’s Club Championships second-round match between Heather Watson and Elena Rybakina, including predictions, head-to-head and their tournament so far.

Heather Watson aims to exploit her home advantage in Thursday’s second-round match at the Queen’s Club Championships against fourth seed and world No. 11 Elena Rybakina. 

The women face off for the first time since a titanic contest in Hobart five years ago, as the British player seeks to upset the Kazakhstani star and advance to the event’s quarter-final.

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Match preview

Having come through qualifying, Watson defeated Yulia Putintseva in her tournament opener, setting up consecutive matches with Kazakh players. 

The 6-4, 6-3 success was just what the doctor ordered for the 33-year-old qualifier, who has barely featured in main draws in 2025. 

While the former world No. 38 holds a 13-11 record for the season, only two matches have been at the tour level — a first-round match with Iryna Shymanovich in Charleston and a round-one meeting with Putintseva — and the world No. 164 seeks only her second triumph at WTA level this year. 

Whatever Watson achieves on grass this season, she will look back fondly on her three-set victory over Ena Shibahara, having outlasted the Japanese player in a two-hour, three-minute tussle that went to a decider. 

Though she has already beaten a player from Kazakhstan, facing a former Wimbledon champion presents a different challenge altogether for the 33-year-old, who seeks a major upset on home soil. 

Rybakina returns to competitive action for the first time since a missed opportunity to end Iga Swiatek's French Open run in Paris. 

Despite clinching a dominant opening set against the Pole, the 25-year-old could not sustain those lofty levels and could not resist the four-time Roland Garros champion's turnaround; however, the former world No. 3 ought to view the last month positively as she enters the short grass-court season. 

After a mixed spring, in which she failed to progress beyond the last 16 in Indian Wells, exited in the second round in Miami and did not make the last 16 in Madrid and Rome, Rybakina battled to her ninth WTA success in Strasbourg and carried that momentum into the second Grand Slam of 2025. 

Although that momentum was halted by Swiatek on the dirt in the French capital, the 25-year-old aims to recover from that setback and build some momentum before the Championships. 

Having reached the Wimbledon semi-finals 12 months ago, Rybakina, who is 6-2 on grass in the last 52 weeks, strives to begin this year's grass-court season on a winning note.

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Tournament so far

Heather Watson:

First round: vs. Yulia Putintseva

 

Elena Rybakina:

First round: Bye

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Head To Head

Hobart (2020) - Semi-finals: Rybakina 6-3 4-6 6-4

While Rybakina won the only matchup with Watson, that Hobart International semi-final lasted two hours and 16 minutes before the Kazakh prevailed en route to her second WTA title. 

Still ranked No. 30 in the world at the time, the world No. 11 has since added seven more titles, including the 2022 Wimbledon success — her only career crown on grass. 

Rybakina enters Thursday's encounter with a 9-2 record against players outside the top 100 in 2025, losing to Belinda Bencic in Abu Dhabi in February and Bianca Andreescu in Rome last month. 

Even though Watson holds a career 11-44 record against opponents in the top 20, she has minimal experience against such players in the last 52 weeks, losing her only matchup against Marta Kostyuk in Seoul in September 2024.

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We say: Rybakina to win in two sets

While Watson has more competitive match action on grass entering Thursday's contest with Rybakina, the fourth seed's expertise on the surface and overall superiority on serve and ball-striking should help her avoid an upset against the Briton to advance at the Queen's Club. ID:575118:1false2false3false: from db desktop :LenBod:collect5593:

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