Elena Rybakina has played, and won, five matches this year with opponents including world No.29 Elise Mertens, world No.27 Anastasia Potapova and the world No.2 Aryna Sabalenka. In the process she has dropped just 15 games.
On Wednesday, she will face the Spaniard Cristina Bucsa, who turned 26 last week and is ranked world No.61. Bucsa has had a good year too, winning three of her five matches to-date but arrived in the main draw of the WTA 500 tournament as a lucky loser before dispatching the much higher-ranked Jasmine Paolini in straight sets in the first round.
She has not played Rybakina before and while the odds of an upset are marginal, the chance to challenge the Wimbledon 2022 champion and Australian Open 2023 runner-up, is not one to be passed up.
“Great groundstrokes, unbelievable serve and a great athlete” is the analysis of Anastasia Paylyuchenkova, who teamed up with Rybakina in the doubles in Adelaide a year ago. “I enjoy playing with her, she makes it much easier for me when I am at the net.”
Rybakina and the diminutive (163 centimetre) Bucsa have not met before and it is hard to see anything other than a victory for the 2024 form player.
Elsewhere, the sheer volume and quality of matches on offer across the ATP and WTA events is little short of overwhelming.
Busca aside, few players will face a more challenging task than South Australia’s Alex Bolt, who cut and dyed his hair blond as a bet after reaching the third round of Australian Open 2019. He faces No.1 seed Tommy Paul.
They have met just once, in Washington in 2018, with the American shading it over three sets and are treading different paths at present.
While Paul is the world No.14 player and American number 1, Bolt currently sits outside the top 300.
He did beat the 73rd-ranked Tomas Machac with the loss of just two games in the Adelaide qualifiers and on Tuesday, dispatched the mercurial Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild with some ease also.
Both men are likeable characters and Bolt, who hails from nearby Murray Bridge, invariably brings a solid posse of family and friends to back him up. The third match on Centre Court, it is one to keep an eye on.
> VIEW: Adelaide International day order of play
Another Aussie with a serious challenge is Jordan Thompson, who saw off ff Argentinean left-hander Facundo Diaz Acosta 6-2 6-2. Thompson who famously beat Rafael Nadal last week in Brisbane, is up against fourth seed Lorenzo Musetti. The Italian, who is ranked world No.25 and just 21 years old, was part of his country’s Davis Cup winning squad six weeks ago.
Thompson, ranked world No.47, is an understated player with an underlying calm and steel. Musetti is in the vanguard of players who will shape the next decade of tennis. This may be the match of the day.
If there is to be an upset it may come with Musetti’s countryman Matteo Arnaldi who is first up on Show Court 1 at 11am, when he plays No.2 seed Nicholas Jarry from Chile. Arnaldi is age 22 and ranked world No.41, against Jarry’s 18 ranking. Like Musetti, he will likely be a future staple of the top 20 or higher.
Also landed with an 11am start is Australia’s Chris O’Connell, who faces Russian Alexander Shevchenko on Court 2. Shevchenko eliminated sixth seed Tomas Martin Echeverry on Monday and ran Holger Rune close in Brisbane last week.
A hard-hitting feisty individual and at world No.48, higher ranked than O’Connell, Shevchenko is the one to beat here. O’Connell, though, has had a solid 12 months and will enjoy a sizeable backing. Seats are few on this court and they should all be snapped up.