The 2023 WTA Finals will start group play on Sunday, October 29th. In the opening match for the tournament, Jessica Pegula will face Elena Rybakina. The tournament, which is also known as the 2023 GNP Seguros WTA Finals Cancun, will come from Mexico. It will mark the end of the 2023 WTA season and the event is considered the most prestigious one of the year, outside of the four Grand Slams. My Pegula vs Rybakina prediction is that this will be a competitive match with close sets. The implications are good when it comes to tiebreaker props.
Order of Play: Right-click/Open in the New Tab to check match times: subject to change
Recent Match Results for Jessica Pegula and Elena Rybakina
Jessica Pegula enters the WTA Finals on about two weeks' rest. The last time she contested a match was on October 14th, when she defeated Yue Yuan in the final of the Seoul event. That was a five-match tournament for her and she went 10-1 in sets played. Prior to that, Pegula went 4-2 in the Beijing and Tokyo draws. Since the US Open, her wins include victories over Maria Sakkari and Daria Kasatkina.
Rybakina has been idle for most of October. In her last match, she lost to Liudmila Samsonova deep in the Beijing draw. That tournament is the only one Rybakina entered after the 2023 US Open, where she suffered a round-of-32 loss. There is not a lot to speak of when it comes to assessing this player.
Recent Tournaments for Jessica Pegula
WTA Seoul Final: defeated Yue Yuan 2-0
WTA Beijing R16: Loss to Jelena Ostapenko 4-6, 2-6
2023 Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis (in Tokyo) final: Loss to Veronika Kudermetova 5-7, 1-6
US Open R16: Loss to Madison Keys 1-6, 3-6
WTA Cincinnati R16: Loss to Marie Bouzkova 4-6, 0-6
WTA Montreal final: Defeated Liudmila Samsonova 6-1, 6-0
Recent matches (Right click/Open in New Tab): Jessica Pegula
Jessica Pegula vs Elena Rybakina Head-to-Head Series
These two players have faced one another three times. All of their matches are from recent seasons. Rybakina won the only match between them this season, which came in Miami early in the year. Pegula won two matches in 2022, with all three results coming on the hard-court surface. On sets played, Pegula is 4-3 so there is not a lot between these two players.
The Draw: Right-click/Open in the New Tab for the draw for the 2023 GNP Seguros WTA Finals Cancun
Pegula vs Rybakina Prediction: OVER 0.5 tiebreakers
In what promises to be a competitive match, Rybakina is the small favorite at -125 (bet365). Both players are well-rested heading into this event. Furthermore, they will both be very eager to do well due to the number of ranking points involved with the event. With parity in their head-to-head series, bettors should be expecting competitive sets. My recommendation is to take OVER 0.5 tiebreakers in this match at +175 with bet365 sportsbook.
Additional reading: All previews for upcoming tennis matches!
