Madrid Open 2023: Svitolina vs Sasnovich Tennis Prediction & Pick

TennisSection previews the 2023 Madrid Open first-round match featuring Elina Svitolina vs. Aliaksandra Sasnovich on Tuesday, April 25, 2023.

Elina Svitolina vs. Aliaksandra Sasnovich Preview

Former World No. 3 Elina Svitolina continues her comeback from maternity by taking a wild card entrant in at the 2023 Madrid Open. She will face Belarus’ Aliaksandra Sasnovich in a tricky opener. Who will prevail?

Elina Svitolina leads the wild card entry list at the 2023 Madrid Open as the high profile name, making her return to the Caja Magica for the first time in two years. This has not been a happy hunting ground for her in years gone by, having failed to make it past the second round stage in seven previous main draw appearances. Madrid will mark her fourth tournament since returning from maternity and she has a tough opener against World No. 48 Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

Aliaksandra Sasnovich has only played one match on clay this season, losing to Sofia Kenin at the start of April in Charleston. She is definitely short on match sharpness at least on this surface, with Elina Svitolina already accumulating four matches in that span since returning from maternity this month. Sasnovich has previously been to the round of 16 at the Madrid Open, doing so in the 2019 season. Let’s see if she can repeat that trick this week.

Elina Svitolina vs. Aliaksandra Sasnovich Prediction and Pick

Elina Svitolina and Aliaksandra Sasnovich are tied at 1-1 in their head-to-head. They contested both matches on hard courts in Brisbane. Svitolina is still in the early stages of her comeback but looked particularly impressive in her first match in Charleston where she took a set from Yulia Putintseva. Movement might still be an issue at this stage as she slowly, but gradually looks to get into shape. Last week she came within a tiebreak of knocking out talented young Dane Clara Tauson in Oeiras which is an indication she is in competitive form. Sasnovich hasn’t really done anything of note for over a month, and as good as her price looks, this is a matchup she’ll likely lose. We’re backing the Ukranian to edge it.