Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the WTA Rome match.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is currently ranked 52nd in the WTA standings, yet her chances of winning are rated approximately 10% higher than those of world No. 40 Katie Boulter.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
What could account for this perceived advantage for Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova? One possible factor is her previous win in their only head-to-head encounter. That meeting took place in Linz in 2024 on indoor hard courts, where Pavlyuchenkova edged out a close victory (7:6, 6:4). So far this season, Pavlyuchenkova has recorded five wins from six tournaments—the same number of events as her opponent—but one win fewer than Katie Boulter.
Katie Boulter
Both players featured in the previous WTA 1000 clay-court event in Madrid. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova suffered a surprise first-round elimination to unranked Anastasija Sevastova, who no longer competes regularly. Anastasija Sevastova won (6:4, 7:5). Katie Boulter, by contrast, came through a three-set battle against world No. 57 Katerina Siniakova (4:6, 6:2, 6:1), before falling in straight sets to world No. 6 Jasmine Paolini in the second round (1:6, 2:6), a result that was largely in line with expectations.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Katie Boulter Prediction
Taking into account current form and recent performances, Katie Boulter looks the more likely to prevail in what promises to be a closely contested match. We expect her to progress to the next round.
