World No. 8 Aryna Sabalenka takes on world No. 11 Jessica Pegula in the round of 16 at the Italian Open on Thursday. Pegula, who is fresh off a run to the final at the Mutua Madrid Open, is playing some great tennis this season—and has done especially well at WTA 1000s in the past. However, Sabalenka has had a small edge in this head-to-head match-up, and she’s going to be eager to make a positive impression in Rome after losing to world No. 32 Amanda Anisimova in her first match in Madrid.
Since Pegula earned a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 win over Sabalenka in Cincinnati back on August 25, 2020, the Belarusian has beaten the American in straight sets twice. Both of those victories for Sabalenka happened to come on clay, with one of them being as recent as last year’s Mutua Madrid Open. The clay-court matches weren’t all that competitive either, with the first one being a 6-3, 6-1 win for Sabalenka, and the more recent one in Madrid turning into a 6-1, 6-2 blowout.