Elina Svitolina (WTA 12) – Kristina Buksha (WTA 51) will meet in the first round of the Australian Open on January 18.

The match will start at 04.30 Kyiv time.

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Elina Svitolina

The Ukrainian tennis player decided to start the season with a tournament in Auckland, where there was no strong squad, and Svitolina was also seeded. As a result, the athlete confirmed his status by winning the championship. Although the tennis player gave up only one set during the entire tournament, it cannot be said that it was easy in the match against Sonay Kartal in the quarter-finals, when everything went into a tiebreaker. In the final match, Svitolina defeated China’s Wang Xinyu.

Now the Ukrainian begins his journey in another major in which he has never won, despite having a good career. If Svitolina manages to overcome the Spanish flu, she will face the winner of the Klimovicheva-Jones double.

Kristina Buksha

The Spaniard is less famous than his upcoming rival; He recently turned 28, but he is not remembered for anything significant. Buksha is a strong middle peasant who is already quite a bit in world tennis.

The athlete started the season with a strong tournament in Brisbane, defeating Hungarian Anna Bondar with great difficulty in the first round – 4:6, 7:6, 6:2. And in the second round she could do nothing against Aryna Sabalenka – 0:6, 1:6. In the Australian major, the athlete reached the third round at most, but it will be difficult to win even the first match this year.

Buksha is playing better in doubles and even managed to win a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

To guess

Statistics show that the athletes have not played each other before and the Ukrainian player is the expected favorite in the upcoming match. Elina has a higher status, has a better start to the season and has an advantage in terms of ratings.

Although Buksha is not the last middle peasant, I do not think that the Ukrainians will have problems. Here I will bet Svitolina to win 1.66 with a -4.5 handicap.

Prediction Sport.ua

Elina Svitolina

01/18/2026 –

04:30

Kristina Buksha

Svitolina handicap (-4.5) 1.66 place a bet KRAIL License No. 559 dated 12/05/2024

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On January 18, Dayana Yastremska (WTA 27) and Elena-Gabriela Ruse (WTA 79) will face each other in the first round of the Australian Open.

The match will start at 02.00 Kyiv time.

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Dayana Yastremskaya

The Ukrainian is not having a bright start to the season, but if he manages to perform well at the Australian Major, he will be forgotten. In Brisbane, Yastremskaya played relatively well, managed to beat the Australian Gibson and the strong Fernandez from Canada, and lost in a tough fight against the strong American Pegula.

It all ended quickly in Adelaide, losing to the experienced but manageable Czech Siniakova by scores of 0:6, 1:6 in 54 minutes. These kinds of defeats have to be icy cold, there are no opponents you can beat, you have to do your best in every match. Diana has the talent to perform at a high level of tennis and you need to do your best in this tournament. Let me remind you that the Ukrainian athlete showed his best performance in the big league in 2024, when he managed to reach the semi-finals.

Elena-Gabriela Ruse

The Romanian tennis player is known to fans of this sport, although he lacks stars in the sky, as he is considered a good average player. For five years, Ruse has been in the top hundred, although he sometimes leaves.

The athlete, who participated in two tournaments this season, first qualified for the tournament by beating Subasic and Sönmez in Brisbane, but immediately lost to the famous Kenin in the main event in three sets. The scenario was similar in Adelaide; In the qualifying rounds, victories were achieved in three sets against the English Swan and the Czech Sinyakova, followed by victories from the “neutral” Kalinskaya 0:6, 3:6.

personal meetings

In one-on-one matches, the score is 2:0 in favor of the Romanian; Hamburg won three sets on clay in 2021, as well as two sets at the 2023 US Open.

To guess

No matter how pretentious it sounds, a lot will depend on Yastremskaya’s mood; If his game goes well, everything can end in defeat. There may also be an option for the Ukrainian player to bring victory to his opponent.

Nobody wants to be eliminated in the first round; Ukrainian is a little favorite, I agree. Here I propose to bet on Dayana’s net victory of 1.77.

Prediction Sport.ua

Dayana Yastremskaya

01/18/2026 –

02:00

Elena-Gabriela Ruse

Yastremskaya’s victory 1.77 place a bet KRAIL License No. 559 dated 12/05/2024

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On January 18, Marta Kostyuk (WTA 20) – Elsa Jacquemot (WTA 58) will meet in the first round of the Australian Open.

The match will start at 03.30 Kyiv time.

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Marta Kostyuk

The Ukrainian has been in the news since the beginning of this year due to his amazing performance in Brisbane. Yes, Marta could not win the championship, losing to world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the final. Here I want to talk more about Kostyuk’s path to the final, she eliminated three tennis players in the top 10, Amanda Anisimova (WTA 3), Mirra Andreeva (WTA 7) and Jessica Pegula (WTA 6), and at the beginning there was a victory over the experienced Putintseva.

Such a strong performance allowed the Ukrainian player to break into the top 20. I was impressed not only by the result, but also by the confident, mature game, there were no chances here, Marta was stronger than her strong opponents.

Elsa Jacquemot

The French tennis player cannot be called a rising star; he is 22 years old; He made a breakthrough last season, climbing more than a hundred places, which allowed him to break into the top 100. This year the athlete has already dropped three places in the world rankings.

The start of the season doesn’t look very optimistic yet; Jacquemo played in Brisbane and Hobart, losing in devastating fashion on both occasions. First he lost to Australian Tomljanovic 1:6, 3:6, then to the Polish Frenchman 4:6, 0:6. It is difficult to expect an outstanding game against such weak matches. Perhaps conclusions will be drawn from defeats, but here you will have to play even against an opponent stronger than the previous ones.

To guess

The tennis players are not far apart in the rankings, only 38 places and almost the same age in years, with Marta being a year older. Despite this, Kostyuk is considered the undisputed favorite by bookmakers.

Such quotes can be explained by the fact that the Ukrainian player was impressed in Brisbane and therefore they expected a strong performance from him. I would like to point out that the tennis players have never played each other before.

Looking ahead, I will say that in the next round the best of this pair will play with the winner of the pair Putintsev – Haddad Maya. I agree that Marta is in great form, so I’m betting her to win at 1.66 with a -5.5 game handicap.

Prediction Sport.ua

Marta Kostyuk

01/18/2026 –

03:30

Elsa Jacquemot

Handicap Kostyuk (-5.5) 1.66 place a bet KRAIL License No. 559 dated 12/05/2024

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