WTA Hobart
Zidansek vs Rybakina (Approx 07:30pm AEDST)
I think this is about as good a spot to oppose Rybakina as you will find in January. I have been against Zidansek a couple of times in the last month, however this may set up as a favourable position for her overall.
Rybakina will finds herself coming off a Finals appearance in Shenzhen, where she lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova in the final in straight sets. On two occasions last year when she backed up from an appearance in a final, she lost to Pera (winning two games across last two sets) in the second round and retired down 1-6 1-3 to Siniakova. There is form in the department of Rybakina struggling to back up, and I think she will have an eye on next week as one of the more dangerous floaters in the entire AO draw.
It works well for Zidansek in a counterpunching sense, as she will be able to use angles well and keep Rybakina on the run. There is a slight breeze forecast for Hobart as well which should play into the hands of Zidansek, and if it does pick up we saw she could handle it well in Auckland last week.
Happy to oppose the scheduling of Rybakina so early in the season.