US Open: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Alison Riske 8/31/21 Tennis Prediction

Fourteenth seeded Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova will face Alison Riske of the USA in the First Round of the 2021 US Open. The match is scheduled to be played on Tuesday August 31st, 2021 at 7:00pm EST.

A keen battle is expected here at the 2021 US Open as Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova does battle with Alison Riske for a spot in the Second Round. The Russian has the higher ranking but Riske leads the head to head, which suggests that we are in for a very close and entertaining match. Who will win and advance here at the US Open?

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is ranked #15 in the world and is seeded one spot higher at #14. She has had a very inconsistent year, with some outstanding performances mixed in with some equally disappointing ones. She produced one of the shocks of the year by reaching the Roland Garros Final, but has since been disappointing, losing early in her only warm up event for the US Open in Montreal. Clay is her surface of choice, and she actually has a losing record on hard courts over the past four years, a shocking statistic for a top 20 player. The silver lining here is that her opponent Alison Riske has been equally as disappointing as the Russian, so she will be confident that she can get the win here and advance to the Second Round here at the 2021 US Open.

Alison Riske is unseeded here at the 2021 US Open and is currently ranked #35 on the WTA Tour. She has been having an extremely poor season and has only won four matches in total out of ten tournaments that she has played. Despite that poor form she is a very solid player, and is certainly capable of better tennis. She will have the entire crowd behind her at her home slam, and that coupled with the fact that she leads the head to head will give her some hope that she can get the win here over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Regardless of the outcome she will be in for a tough match here, and will have to be at her absolute best to extend her lead in the head to head.

While the Russian is ranked higher, Alison Riske actually leads the head to head 3-2. They both have been in poor form lately so I am expecting a sloppy match filled with errors. It is very likely that this match will come down to who can limit their errors the best, and I think that person will be Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. She is much more experienced and has performed well at slams in the past, so she may be a bit too much for the American to handle. I expect this match to go to three sets but ultimately The Russian will win and advance to the Second Round here at the 2021 US Open.