Aryna Sabalenka vs Elena Rybakina Prediction: Top Seed Aryna Sabalenka Clashes with Hard-Hitting Elena Rybakina in Round 3 of the Group Stage

The WTA Finals Group A Round 3 sees the exciting match between World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and World No. 5 Elena Rybakina. It is befitting to say that world number one Sabalenka, with a faultless 2-0 record in the group and a commanding spree of seven consecutive match wins, is in very good form. As for Rybakina, she has not been able to find her rhythm in this tournament as she suffered defeats in the two group matches. Yet, having this head-to-head at 7-4 in favor of Sabalenka, Rybakina will be keen to disrupt this momentum and stay alive in the tournament.

With both players known for their blistering serves and aggressive baseline games, this promises to be a battle of sheer power. Recent performances by Sabalenka suggest consistent dominance in the direction of completing the matches in straight sets. Rybakina has, at least on paper, the tools to take down Sabalenka if she manages to clean up her accuracy and goes ahead to exploit a potent first serve. Traditionally, their matches have been affairs of high voltage with close scores. Only consider the last time they faced each other in the 2024 WTA Madrid semifinals, where Sabalenka managed to win a pulsating three-setter.

Baseline aggression has been the hallmark of Sabalenka's success. Deep groundstrokes are going to play a key role in her strategy-maintaining rallies and forcing errors from Rybakina. She returns a high percentage of first serves and manages to protect most of her serve games, often tactically speaking. Sabalenka will be trying especially to exploit Rybakina's movement on those wide shots that tend to pull her out of balance.

Rybakina's route to victory would, of course, come with consolidating her service games and piling pressure on Sabalenka's second serve. She has the knack of hitting scintillating winners from defensive positions and can utilize her court coverage to extend rallies. Rybakina can also try taking the rhythm away from Sabalenka by mixing it up so well-sliced shots and timely drop shots can get Sabalenka out of position.

Given the form coming into this, Sabalenka will go into this match as the favorite. Her aggressive style of play combines with the fact that she recently beat both Zheng and Paolini in straight sets to really prove to an extent that she has the ability to finish off sets decisively. It's in those areas-the consistency in serving and holding her game together at high-pressure junctures-where Sabalenka can make a difference. Rybakina, though, is an opponent known for turning matches around, and given the situation, an uphill task might just bring the best out of her.

• Aryna Sabalenka Wins & Over 17.5 Games @ 1.73 Odds
• Over 20.5 Games @ 1.77 Odds
• Over 21.5 Games @ 1.90 Odds