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Match Details
Fixture: (28) Elise Mertens vs (WC) Elina Svitolina
Date: July 5, 2023
Tournament: Wimbledon 2023
Round: Second round (Round of 64)
Venue: London, United Kingdom
Category: Grand Slam
Surface: Grass
Prize money: £44,700,000
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel & ESPN | Canada - TSN & RDS | UK - BBC & Eurosport | India - Star Sports
Elise Mertens vs Elina Svitolina preview
Elise Mertens will square off against Elina Svitolina in the second round of the 2023 Wimbledon on Wednesday.
Mertens, the 28th seed, was up against Viktoria Hruncakova in the first round here. The former snagged an early break for a 3-0 lead, but gave it away when she failed to serve out the opener at 5-3. She even held a set point on her opponent's serve at 6-5, but wasted that opportunity as well.
Mertens raised her level in the ensuing tie-break and was finally able to claim the first set for herself. The second set was quite chaotic with six breaks of serve, but the Belgian managed to get the edge with a couple of timely service holds to win the match 7-6 (2), 6-2.
Svitolina, meanwhile, faced former Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in her opener.
The Ukrainian fell behind 2-0 at the start of the match, but bagged the next four games to go 4-2 up. She let go of a set point on the American's serve at 5-3. In the following game, she saved a couple of break points before serving out the set.
Svitolina broke Williams' serve twice in the second set as she raced to a 5-1 lead. She dropped serve while trying to close out the match, but broke back immediately in the next game to win 6-4, 6-3.
Elise Mertens vs Elina Svitolina head-to-head
Svitolina leads Mertens 3-2 in the head-to-head. The latter won their previous encounter at the 2021 Gippsland Trophy in three sets.
Elise Mertens vs Elina Svitolina odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Elise Mertens vs Elina Svitolina prediction
It took some time for Svitolina to find her range in the previous round, but once she did, there was no stopping her. Williams was a bit hampered after taking a nasty fall in the first set and the Ukrainian continued to play her own game. Her serve improved as the match went on and it came in handy during important points.
Svitolina fired 28 winners compared to 15 unforced errors. She did suffer a slight wobble while trying to close out the match, but recovered swiftly.
Mertens played a solid match herself to defeat Hruncakova. The Belgian hit 24 winners in contrast to 20 unforced errors.
Mertens is quite steady from the back of the court, while Svitolina's court coverage remains impeccable as ever. The latter's ground game was pretty decent in the last round, but her stroke production was a bit clunky at times.
Since the start of 2018, Mertens has failed to make it to the third round of a Major just once and her consistency has been quite remarkable. Svitolina does have her task cut out for her, but if she raises her level, she can certainly get the job done.
Pick: Elina Svitolina to win in three sets.
