Jelena Ostapenko vs Marina Stakusic - Guadalajara Open Tennis Prediction and Pick 9/12/24

Jelena Ostapenko is the top seed at this week's Guadalajara Open. She has never advanced beyond the round of 16 at this tournament in either of her last two trips. With this year's event downgraded to a WTA 500, Ostpapenko will, therefore, begin her campaign in the round of 16 stage against Canadian teenager Marina Stakusic. 

The Latvian has lost her last three matches at the Tour level, including a blockbuster first-round match at the US Open to Naomi Osaka. But it is the two preceding defeats to Elina Avanesyan in Cincinnati and Taylor Townsend in Toronto that will have the alarm bells ringing in her camp. Ostapenko did at least try to win the US Open women's doubles title earlier this month, and she succeeded, so it's not all doom and gloom.

Marina Stakusic needed to win her first-round match at the 2024 Guadalajara Open to book a meeting against the former Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko. Stakusic defeated the experienced Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in straight sets in a match that took 18 games to decide.

In the victory, the 19-year-old compiled five aces to three double faults and landed 58% first serves. Stakusic won an impressive 71% of first-serve points (24/34) and 56% of second-serve points (14/25). She converted all four of her break points in the match. 

Jelena Ostapenko vs Marina Stakusic Head-To-Head

• Ostapenko and Stakusic have never met at the WTA Tour before this.

Jelena Ostapenko vs Marina Stakusic Prediction

Ostapenko could be staring at a potential fourth straight loss in singles against the resurgent Stakusic, who knows a thing or two about defying the odds when the spotlight shines on her. She did so to full effect at the Billie Jean King Cup final last year, where she helped Canada win its first title. But before this week, she also struggled to find any sort of momentum on Tour and this will most likely be a bridge too far against a determined Ostapenko.