Ficovich, Juan Pablo - Caruso, Salvatore

Rybakina Elena - 26 years old from Kazakhstan. As far as I can tell, her confidence and stability started to return at the end of 2025, when she needed to qualify for the final stages of the WTA tour. Since then, her game has greatly improved and her confidence in her abilities has returned. And when it comes to the Australian Open, those are definitely Rybakina's cards. She serves aces without blinking. She is so good at winning points with her first and second serve that very few players can boast about it; against Mertens, both serves were above 70%, and against Valentova, both were above 60%. To me, Valentova's game somewhat resembles Swiatek's, and I would even say that she would give the Polish player a run for her money on a hard court.

Speaking of Swiatek, she cannot even think about playing on hard or other fast courts; she only reached the number 2 spot in the WTA rankings due to a mistake. In terms of her game on popular hard surfaces, she should stay in the top 5-10 at best. Even though she held the number one spot for a long time, she did not make it to the semi-finals of the Australian Open Grand Slam. Overall, she has not faced any serious competition in this tournament. When it comes to her game on hard courts, when faced with a tougher opponent who has a better serve, her game completely falls apart; she cannot even serve properly, and it becomes a tragedy. This has been the case on all hard courts since the fall of 2025, and we can see it in her matches against players like the relentless Bencic, or the unstable Gauff, who she cannot offer any resistance to and ultimately falls into despair.
A very big bet.

Rybakina Elena - 26-year-old from Kazakhstan. As far as I have been observing her, her confidence and stability began to decline at the end of 2025, when she needed to enter the final WTA top eight. Since then, her game has greatly improved, her confidence in her abilities has returned, and the Australian Open courts are practically Rybakina's. She serves a series of aces without even blinking. She wins points with her first and second serve so well that few can boast the same, against Mertens both serves are over 70%, against Valentova both serves are over 60%. Valenvtova, in my opinion, somewhat resembles Swiatek in her game, and I would even say she could give the Polish player a run for her money on hard courts.
Speaking of the Polish player, Swiatek is not suited to play on hard courts and other fast surfaces, and even at her WTA 2 ranking, she would drop 5-10 positions if she played on the popular hard court. Although the Polish player held the number one spot for a long time, she has never reached a semifinal in the Australian Open Grand Slam.
Overall, she has not faced any significant opponents in this tournament. When facing a tougher opponent on the hard court, her game completely falls apart, she can't even serve normally, it's a tragedy to watch. This has been the case on hard courts in all tournaments since the fall of 2025, and this year we can see the same in matches against Bencic without mercy, or against an unstable Gauff, where she has nothing to offer and just falls into despair.
This is a very risky bet.

Both Americans, Pegulas - 31 years old, Anisimovs - 24 years old. Both have significantly improved their game since 2025. Both show very beautiful tennis, of course the AO courts suit Anisimovs better, but judging from their head-to-head record and the fact that Amanda is younger, Pegula, who is known for her stability, could take advantage of that. The H2H record is 4:1 in favor of Pegula, and in their last exhibition tournament, Pegula showed her skills 😉

I saw the entire Pegula match. It was not her victory, but Keys' defeat, where her failure and negative emotions helped her to end it herself, and Pegula was left to just represent. The same will not happen with Anisimova.

Two American players, top 10 in their best form, meet each other, but this time I am going with Anisimova. I won't emphasize the results with Keys, as Keys' statistics were tragic. Meanwhile, Anisimova confidently defeated Pegula in Miami in two sets, and her opponents at this tournament are taken care of cleanly, maintaining a stable serve, which is rare for women.