Wednesday, July 2

Sports Mole previews Thursday’s Wimbledon second-round match between Maria Sakkari and Elena Rybakina, including predictions, head-to-head and their tournament so far.

Maria Sakkari aims to inflict Elena Rybakina’s earliest ever Wimbledon exit in Thursday’s second-round match.    

The 2022 champion at the All England Club has never been knocked out before the fourth round at the Championships, but she must overcome a player against whom she has never found it easy, despite winning all but one of their previous encounters.  

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Match preview

A year after losing to Emma Raducanu, Sakkari returned to SW19 aiming to avoid a first-round exit at a Grand Slam where she rarely thrives.

Having entered last year's event ranked as the No. 9 player on the women's tour, the former world No. 3 has slid in the rankings, evidenced by her current No. 77 standing at the 2025 tournament.

Fresh off recording her 16th win of the year, the 29-year-old two-time WTA champion seeks a 17th victory at the expense of Rybakina to reach the third round at Wimbledon for the fifth time in her ninth appearance.

Having never gone beyond round three at the event, Sakkari, who has an 11-8 career record at SW19, strives to pull off an upset over the former champion to advance and face Clara Tauson or Anna Kalinskaya.

However, her underwhelming 1-9 record against top-20 opponents in the last 52 weeks, including a 0-3 mark against players ranked 11th to 20th, probably underscores the Greek star’s struggles ahead of facing Rybakina.

The Kazakhstani returned to the All England Club on Tuesday for the first time since a disappointing loss to 2024 champion Barbora Krejcikova in the semi-finals.

The world No. 11 took the opening set in that semi-final match, only to be unable to resist the Czech star's fightback in a contest that lasted two hours and seven minutes.

Rybakina appeared unfazed by last year’s events as she beat Elina Avanesyan 6-2, 6-1 to set up a sixth meeting with Sakkari, who often pushes the big-serving Kazakhstani star to the limit.

Having avoided falling prey to the mishaps that have befallen seeded players in the opening round — Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Qinwen Zheng and Paula Badosa all lost in round one — Rybakina, who secured her 20th career victory at Wimbledon, aims to improve her 20-3 record on the grass courts.

The world No. 11 has never exited before the fourth round, reaching that stage in 2021, claiming the title in 2022 and progressing to the quarter-finals and semi-finals in 2023 and 2024, and the Kazakhstani star hopes to record a fourth consecutive win over her Greek opponent.

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Tournament so far

Maria Sakkari:

First round: vs. Anna Blinkova 6-4 6-4

Elena Rybakina:

First round: vs. Elina Avanesyan 6-2 6-1

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Head To Head

United Cup (2024) - Round Robin: Rybakina 6-4 6-3  

Miami (2024) - Quarter-finals: Rybakina 7-5 6-7(4) 6-4  

WTA Finals (2023) - Round Robin: Rybakina 6-0 6-7(4) 7-6(2)  

Indian Wells (2022) - Quarter-finals: Sakkari 7-5 6-4  

St. Petersburg (2020) - Semi-finals: Rybakina 3-6 7-5 6-1  

Although Rybakina leads Sakkari 4-1 in their head-to-head, three of the former Wimbledon champion’s wins have been in three sets, highlighting the close nature of those matches.    

Notably, all five of their previous meetings have been on hard courts, and they will face each other on a different surface for the first time since their initial encounter five years ago.    

The Greek player's record against top-20 players is less than impressive, as she enters Thursday's match with a 1-9 record against such opponents in the past year — and she is 0-3 against players ranked 11th to 20th in that period.  

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We say: Rybakina to win in three sets

While Rybakina is favoured to extend her winning streak against Sakkari, the 2022 Wimbledon champion is expected to be pushed to a decider before overcoming the former world No. 3, thereby avoiding her earliest ever exit at the Championships. ID:576623:1false2false3false: from db desktop :LenBod:collect5468:

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