Cincinnati 2022: Garbine Muguruza vs Elena Rybakina preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick | Western & Southern Open

Match Details

Fixture: (8) Garbine Muguruza vs Elena Rybakina.

Date: August 17, 2022.

Tournament: Cincinnati Open 2022.

Round: Second Round (Round of 32).

Venue: Cincinnati, Ohio, United States.

Category: WTA 1000.

Surface: Hard.

Prize money: $2,527,250.

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | Canada - Rogers Sportsnet, TSN | UK - Amazon Prime Video.

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Garbine Muguruza vs Elena Rybakina preview

Garbine Muguruza at the 2022 French Open.

Former Wimbledon winner Garbine Muguruza will take on reigning champion Elena Rybakina in the second round of the 2022 Western & Southern Open on Wednesday.

Muguruza has struggled heavily this season, compiling a 9-13 win-loss record so far. She has managed to win consecutive matches just once this season, at the Dubai Tennis Championships back in February.

Muguruza was set to commence her North American hardcourt swing at the Silicon Valley Classic, but withdrew due to an injury. She returned to action at the Canadian Open.

After an opening-round bye, she eased past Kaia Kanepi in straight sets in the second round. The Estonian had previously defeated her in the first round of the French Open a few months ago. The former World No. 1 was up against Belinda Bencic in the third round and suffered a 6-1, 6-3 defeat.

Muguruza is a former Cincinnati champion, winning the title back in 2017. The Spaniard will be aiming to recapture some of that old magic to snap out of her current slump.

Rybakina at the 2022 Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic.

Following her maiden Grand Slam triumph at Wimbledon last month, Elena Rybakina returned to action at the Silicon Valley Classic.

She led Daria Kasatkina 6-1 in the first round, but lost the match in three sets, managing to win just another couple of games in the process.

Rybakina's next tournament was the Canadian Open. She scored a three-set victory over Marie Bouzkova in the first round. Up against Coco Gauff in the second round, she saved four match points in the second set tie-break to force a decider.

However, the Kazakh was unable to stage a successful comeback, losing to the teenager in three sets.

Rybakina kicked off her Cincinnati Open campaign against Mayar Sherif. She went down by a break to trail 3-2, but won the next four games in a row to clinch the set. She raced to a 5-1 lead in the second set and soon closed out the match to win 6-3, 6-2.

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Garbine Muguruza vs Elena Rybakina head-to-head

The pair have split their meetings evenly to tie their head-to-head at 1-1. Rybakina won their most recent encounter at last year's Olympics in straight sets.

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Garbine Muguruza vs Elena Rybakina odds

Player	Moneyline	Handicap Bets	Total Games (Over & Under)
Garbine Muguruza	+190	-1.5 (+375)	Over 20.5 (-130)
Elena Rybakina	-250	+1.5 (-650)	Under 20.5 (-110)

All odds are sourced from BetMGM.

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Garbine Muguruza vs Elena Rybakina prediction

Garbine Muguruza at the 2022 Australian Open.

While Rybakina hasn't been particularly impressive since winning Wimbledon, Muguruza has been in a slump for a long time now. The former played a great match against Sherif in the first round, but if Muguruza could be difficult to handle if she steps up her game.

Rybakina is the better server, so the Spaniard will need to work on upping her return game. During her loss to Bencic last week, Muguruza went 0/4 on break points.

The Kazakh is also the bigger hitter among the two players now. While Muguruza has handled power players like Rybakina with ease previously, her groundstrokes seem to have lost their sting this year.

She was totally dominated by Bencic last week and Rybakina, the reigning Wimbledon champion, could be all over her as well.

Muguruza seems to be a pale imitation of the champion she once was and unless something changes drastically, it's hard to see her winning this match.

Pick: Elena Rybakina to win in straight sets.