WTA Dubai 2023: Gauff vs Rybakina Tennis Prediction & Pick

TennisSection previews the 2023 WTA Dubai Tennis Championships as Coco Gauff takes on Elena Rybakina in the third round on Wednesday, February 22, 2023.

What a match we have in prospect. It’s only the third round of the WTA Dubai Tennis Championships, and we already have two of the WTA’s Top 10 going toe to toe. Will it be Coco Gauff who continues her meteoric rise? Or will Elena Rybakina maintain her terrific start to the new season?

Coco Gauff has been to a quarterfinal at the WTA Dubai Tennis Championships, doing so in 2021. But this year, she faces a much more daunting challenge coming up against Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina. Gauff played a great first match here, brushing aside Belarus’ Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-0 6-4. Gauff won 59% of first-serve points, she will be keen to improve that figure substantially to stand a chance of beating the Kazakh on Wednesday.

Elena Rybakina, meanwhile, has played two matches being a slightly lower seed than Coco Gauff at the WTA Dubai Tennis Championships. And the Kazakh has looked in good touch. She scaled a tricky opener against 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, clawing her way back from a break down in the second set to win in straight sets. And on Tuesday, she got the better of Marie Bouzkova using her ferocious power to outmuscle the quick-footed Czech.

Coco Gauff leads Elena Rybakina 1-0 in their head-to-head on the WTA Tour. They played that match on the hard courts of Toronto, with Gauff triumphing in a third-set tiebreak. While Gauff is very much capable of replicating that result, she hasn’t been consistent enough in the big moments this season. Rybakina, by contrast, is looking sharp, incisive, and very efficient in putting away her chances. Gauff did have some lapses in concentration a few times against Sasnovich in the last round and I think she might have a tough time reading the Rybakina serve. We reckon the Kazakh will gain the upper hand in this rivalry, but we recommend backing the games spread here.