Iga Swiatek and Lesia Tsurenko meet in the third round of the 2023 tennis Italian Open. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.
Iga Swiatek is coming off a straight set win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova that took 12 games to decide. In the victory, Swiatek won 75 percent of her first serve points and 47 percent of her second serve points. Swiatek won 65 percent of her total service points and converted on 6 of her 16 break points. Swiatek got 65 percent of her first serves in play and hit 2 aces. Swiatek has won 14 of her last 16 matches, and 6 of her last 7 wins have been decided in straight sets. Swiatek looks to make the fourth round of a WTA 1000 for the fourth straight tournament. Swiatek has won 9 of her last 10 matches on clay court.
Lesia Tsurenko is coming off a straight set win over Bernarda Pera that took 20 games to decide. In the victory, Tsurenko won 62 percent of her first serve points and 43 percent of her second serve points. Tsurenko won 55 percent of her total service points and converted on 5 of her 13 break points. Tsurenko got 65 percent of her first serves in play and hit 1 ace. Tsurenko looks to make the fourth round of a WTA 1000 for the first time since 2018 Cincinnati. Tsurenko has 8 career wins over top-10 players, but none of those wins have come since 2019. Tsurenko has won 7 of her last 10 matches on clay court.
Swiatek won the only meeting against Tsurenko, which was in the 2022 French Open. The match was decided in straight sets and 14 games.
Tsurenko has shown she can beat quality players in her career, but there are a lot of letdowns, and she’s never been a big tournament player. Heck, Tsurenko hasn’t played in many big tournaments since COVID-19, as this is just her third WTA 1000 since 2020. Throw in the previous meeting against Swiatek, which was last year on clay, and it’s hard seeing this match being competitive.
Probably won’t be another double bagel, but I like Swiatek in straight sets.
