On the night of January 22, Ukrainian tennis player Dayana Yastremskaya (WTA 93) will play the 1/8 finals match of the Australian Open 2024.
In the 4th round of the Australian major, the Ukrainian will fight against Victoria Azarenka (WTA 22), who competes in a “neutral status”. The meeting will take place at Rod Laver Arena on the 1st start. The start time of the game is no earlier than 03:00 Kyiv time.
Diana Yastremskaya
Diana is a real sensation of the tournament and the only tennis player from the qualifiers who is still competing at the Australian Open 2024.
After not the most confident qualification, the Ukrainian finished off Wimbledon 2022 champion and world number 7 Marketa Vondrousova, and then dealt with Varvara Gracheva. In the 3rd round, Yastremskaya played a perfect first and third set against Emma Navarro.
Dayana plays actively and aggressively, often going on the attack. While the Ukrainian woman is playing, it’s difficult to beat her. Yastremskaya’s nerves and mental health have improved; she doesn’t look lost on the court and has a clear game plan.
One of the disadvantages of Yastremskaya’s game is the lack of passing shots. Basically everything is very flat. Yes, strong, yes, smart, but flat… Azarenka is not a tennis player who can be beaten with a monotonous style of play without coming up with anything new.
Playing with Victoria in long rallies, throwing balls and exchanging forehands and backhands diagonally could be a mistake. Most likely it will, unless Azarenka starts making consistent mistakes.
The representative of Belarus is incredibly experienced. Of course, she is clearly not in prime form, but at 34 years old she is capable of playing at a high level. Therefore, in any case, it simply won’t happen and there are fears that Azarenka will outplay Yastremska, primarily in terms of tactics.
Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine. Diana Yastremskaya
Victoria Azarenka
Azarenka is a former number one, winner of two Australian Opens and holder of 21 titles at the WTA level. Experience, but what about physics?
She is already 34. In 2023, she withdrew from tournaments three times. Last season ended with three defeats in a row.
Before the match with Yastremskaya, Victoria will rest for 2 days, this will benefit her. But running over 23-year-old Dayana, who is hitting the ball as if this is her last tournament in her life, will be difficult, probably even impossible.
Azarenka has additional motivation – she needs to defend her points from last year’s semi-final. Otherwise, you will fall out not only from the top 20, but also from the top 30.
Who did the Belarusian beat at the Aus Open 2024? Georgi (3 sets), Towson (3 sets), Ostapenko (2 sets). It is worth assuming that Alena was not in the best physical condition, given the excess weight and busy schedule (this was Ostapenko’s 11th match in 2024).
If we draw the line, we can safely draw only one conclusion: an interesting fight awaits us, where experience will collide with youth and incredible desire.
Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine. Victoria Azarenka
Statistics of personal meetings
Yastremskaya and Azarenka played each other three times. The score in head-to-head matches is 2:1 in favor of Victoria. The last time the tennis players met was on September 19 at competitions in Guadalajara. Then Dayana gave the fight, initially going as a clear underdog, but lost 4:6, 6:7.
Statistics of won/lost matches by year
Prediction of the match Diana Yastremskaya – Victoria Azarenka
It is logical that Azarenka is the favorite. Partly, even obvious. But this allows us not to take the Ukrainian victory, but to hedge our bets. We suggest placing a bet on Yastremskaya handicap +1.5 in sets for odds of 1.92.
2024-01-21 23:20:56
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