We're slated for quite a face-off at Melbourne Park with the 4th seed, Jasmine Paolini, rolling into the round of 32 against 28th seeded Elina Svitolina. And if there's anything we've learned from this tournament, it's that seeding has about as much value as a dropped ice cream cone. That being said, Paolini's performance has not been a fluke by any stretch. She's been spinning a love story on the courts lately with a stupendous no set loss victories over Zarazúa R. and Wei S.
Svitolina, though, she's nobody's fools rush in. She's knocked off Dolehide C. and Cîrstea S. without a hitch, faster than you could say 'second set'. However, let's not forget that tragic loss to Gauff C. It was like watching Leonardo Da Vinci smear peanut butter on the Mona Lisa, a potential masterpiece that's just slightly off.
Melbourne Park, on the other side, is as slippery as a banana peel on ballerina slippers. A fast surface, which could boost Paolini's aggressive, spin-heavy play, forcing Svitolina to pull a rabbit out of her hat to keep up.
Now, if we all had crystal balls, we wouldn't be here, would we? And while some might call predicting sports akin to throwing darts at a fishbowl, based on all those juicy bits we just gnawed on, here's what I think:
Albert’s Prediction: Paolini in 3 sets.