Throughout the Rogers Cup tournaments in Montreal (ATP) and Toronto (WTA), we'll preview the upcoming days' must-see matches.
Elina Svitolina [5] vs. Caroline Wozniacki [6]
Here she is again. Wozniacki will play her sixth final of 2017 in Toronto; can she finally win one? With a 46-15 record and a No. 6 ranking, she has been perhaps the steadiest player on the women’s tour this year, but she has yet to take home a title. Has it turned into a phobia? She lost her last one, in Bastad earlier this month, to 40th-ranked Katerina Siniakova in straight sets.
Wozniacki also lost a final this year, in Dubai, to Svitolina, who, with a 43-9 record, has also been among the tour’s most consistent performers, and is ranked a very quiet No. 5. But while Wozniacki has lost all five of her finals, Svitolina has won all four of hers.
With that in mind, Svitolina should be favored to do it again. The question may be how well she recovers, mentally and physically, from a banner day on Saturday, where she knocked off two of the WTA’s best players—Garbiñe Muguruza in the morning, Simona Halep in the evening. Can Svitolina keep that momentum going, or is a fall to earth inevitable? Wozniacki will be happy to pose that question, over and over and over, on Sunday.
Winner: Svitolina