Women’s Olympic Tennis Quarter-Final – Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Belinda Bencic Preview & Prediction
THE FACTS
When is Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Belinda Bencic taking place? Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Belinda Bencic will take place on Wednesday 28th July, 2021 at (not before) 04:30 (UK)
Where is Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Belinda Bencic taking place? Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Belinda Bencic will take place at Ariake Tennis Park in Tokyo
What surface is Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Belinda Bencic played on? Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Belinda Bencic will be played on hard courts
Where can I get tickets for Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Belinda Bencic? There are no tickets for Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Belinda Bencic as Olympic Tennis will take place without spectators.
What TV channel is Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Belinda Bencic on in the UK? Olympic coverage is shared between BBC and Eurosport so it is worth checking their schedules for Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Belinda Bencic
Where can I stream Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Belinda Bencic in the UK? If Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Belinda Bencic is televised on BBC then it can be streamed live on the BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website & app. If Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Belinda Bencic is televised on Eurosport then subscribers can stream the match live on Eurosport Player
THE PREDICTION
Despite her higher ranking at world number 18, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova’s defeat of Sara Sorribes Tormo was exceptional considering the Spaniard’s recent performances. Sorribes Tormo took out the first seed Ash Barty in the first round and looked a dark horse for a medal before Pavlyuchenkova dismissed her in comfortable straight sets and put her own claim on a route to the final. The 30-year-old will be glad to see Belinda Bencic opposite her on court in this high-quality quarter-final rather than Barbora Krejcikova, who beat Pavlyuchenkova in the final of Roland-Garros last month. World number 12 Bencic came back from a set to beat Krejcikova in a fabulous, gritty performance against the most in-form woman on tour. The last two players to beat Krejcikova went on to win their tournaments.
This is the seventh meeting between the pair with Bencic leading their storied head-to-head record 4-2 as things stand, although Pavlyuchenkova won their most recent meeting at last year’s Dubai Open. Switzerland’s Bencic has won the majority of their higher-profile encounters too, with a quarter-final win in St. Petersburg in 2016 and then a final at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow. Pavlyuchenkova will be eager to avenge those two defeats at home here but the winner of this enthralling match-up is desperately hard to pick. Given her ruthlessness so far, take the Russian to win at least a set but this could go any which way.
