Tennis at Tokyo Olympics 2020: Aryna Sabalenka vs Magda Linette Preview, Head to Head and Prediction

World number 3, Aryna Sabalenka will face world number 45, Magda Linette in the first round of the Women’s singles at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Aryna Sabalenka vs Magda Linette: Match Details

Aryna Sabalenka vs Magda Linette: Preview

Sabalenka turned pro in 2015 and has since won sixteen WTA titles in total, ten in singles and six in doubles including two Grand Slam doubles titles. She earned her best ever grand slam finish in the singles event when she reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon this year. She will be making her Olympic debut this week in Tokyo.

Her last tournament before travelling to Tokyo for the Olympics was Wimbledon where she lost against Karolina Pliskova in the semi-finals in three sets. She last played on hard court in March at the Miami Open where she lost in the quarter-finals against world number 1, Ashleigh Barty. Her win-loss record throughout her career is 261-131 and has an exceptional record this year of 34-11 and reached a career high world number rank 3 in July after Wimbledon.

Magda Linette turned pro much earlier in 2009 and made her career high singles ranking of world number 33 in February 2020. She has reached the finals on the WTA Tour four times and has grabbed the title twice. Linette represented her country, Poland at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

She last played on the tour at Wimbledon where she lost to Paula Badosa in the third round. Similarly, to Sabalenka, she last played on hard court in Miami Open. She was knocked out by Johanna Konta in the round of 64 in straight sets. She has not had one of the best years with a win-loss record of 8-9 and overall, in her career, a record of 374-282.

Aryna Sabalenka vs Magda Linette: Head to Head

This will be the 2^nd meeting between the pair who last met in the round of 16 at the 2018 Tianjin Open where Sabalenka won in straight sets. Sabalenka currently leads their head-to-head tie 1-0.

Aryna Sabalenka vs Magda Linette: Prediction

Sabalenka has had a much better run this year and although, has lesser experience than Linette both at the Olympics and the WTA tour, the world number 3 is in much better form. With a 72%-win record on hard court, she has won 14 matches on this surface this year and has lost only 5. In her overall career, she has won 115 times and lost 45 times on hard court.

Prediction: Sabalenka to win in straight sets.

Also read: Tennis at Tokyo Olympics 2020: Men’s Singles Draw Preview, Analysis and Prediction