Elise Mertens vs Emma Navarro Predictions: There are no guarantees

Elise Mertens and Emma Navarro will take their place on the court for the final match of the WTA Hobart after successfully winning against other opponents in previous rounds. They have been by far the most in-form players in the competition and they are truly deserving of their place in this year’s final match.

Elise Mertens saw off Saville Daria in the semifinal game, beating her in 3 sets, while Emma Navarro proved too strong for Yue Yuan in the semifinal and won the game in straight sets.

Both players will be out to prove a strong point when they face each other for the very first time in their careers.

Elise Mertens

Elise Mertens is currently ranked 12th on the WTA rankings and she was born in Leuven Belgium on the 26th of November 1995. She became the world No. 1 in doubles in May 2021 and she was the third Belgian to hold a top ranking in either singles or doubles. Mertens is a three-time Major champion in doubles, having won the 2019 US Open and 2021 Australian Open playing alongside Aryna Sabalenka, and the 2021 Wimbledon Championships alongside Hsieh Su-wei. She also finished runner-up at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships with Zhang Shuai and at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships with Storm Hunter.

Mertens has won 18 doubles titles on the WTA Tour, including the 2022 WTA Finals and six at the WTA 1000.

Mertens also reached her first major semifinal at the 2018 Australian Open, followed by two US Open quarterfinals in 2019 and 2020. Mertens achieved her career-high singles ranking of world No. 12 in November 2018, and has won eight WTA Tour titles, including two at the WTA 500 level. She has represented Belgium in the Billie Jean King Cup since 2017, and competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in both singles and doubles.

Mertens came into the WTA Hobart in the round of 32 and her first match against Danielle Collins ended in a win in straight sets. Then she faced Karolina Schmeidlov in the next round and won in straight sets. Her third game of the competition also ended in a win against Arantxa Rus, before she finally defeated Daria Saville in the semifinal in a 3-sets match.

Emma Navarro

Emma Navarro was born on the 18th of May 2001 in New York City, USA and she is currently ranked 31st on the WTA rankings. Emma won the junior 2019 French Open in doubles, and also finished runners-up in the junior 2019 Australian Open. She won the NCAA Championships singles title on 28 May 2021 and with this win, she earned a wildcard into the 2021 US Open main draw where she made her Grand Slam debut. On her debut at the 2023 French Open as a wildcard, she reached the second round. She reached a WTA Tour-level semifinal for the first time in her career at the 2023 Bad Homburg Open and she reached a third semifinal at the 2024 ASB Classic and another back-to-back semifinal at the 2024 Hobart International. As a result, she reached the top 30 in the rankings on 15 January 2024.

She kicked off her WTA Hobart campaign with a win over Clara Burel and she won in 3 sets. Then she faced Magdalena Frech in the next round and won in straight sets. Her next game was against Viktoriya Tomova and she got yet another win in 3 sets, before finally beating Yue Yuan in the semifinal in straight sets.

Head to Head

There is no head-to-head record between both players.

Expert Analysis and Predictions

Elise Mertens and Emma Navarro have both been fantastic in the competition and both players deserve their place in this stage of the competition. They match each other in most aspects of the game and their determination has been unmatched so far in the tournament. Elise Mertens is favored clearly because of her experience, but there’s really not much of a great difference between both players.

• Emma Navarro to Win By (+3) Handicap at 1.60 Odds
• Over 21.5 Games at 1.85 Odds
• Total 3 Sets at 2.20 Odds