2022 champion Elena Rybakina will play Greece’s top-ranked woman, Maria Sakkari, in the second round of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships. The match is scheduled for Thursday, July 3. Here’s our Elena Rybakina vs Maria Sakkari prediction. This preview will also include an Elena Rybakina vs Maria Sakkari pick.

Elena Rybakina vs Maria Sakkari Preview
Elena Rybakina began the tournament with a clinical straight sets win against Armenia’s Elina Avanesyan. Rybakina took just an hour to complete a 6-2, 6-1 win over the World No. 49. Rybakina started the match strongly with a couple of breaks to lead 5-0. Avanesyan managed to reel off two games in succession, including breaking Rybakina’s serve. But the Kazakh broke immediately to take the set 6-2.

In the second set, Rybakina did not drop her serve and broke Avanesyan twice. In the victory, Rybakina hit 23 winners and 20 unforced errors. That included three aces and two double faults. Rybakina landed 47% of first serves in play and won 74% of first serve points (23/31). She won 51% of second serve points (18/35) and saved eight of nine break points.

Maria Sakkari is coming off a straight sets win against Anna Blinkova to snap her three-match losing run in the first round of the Grand Slams. Sakkari took 79 minutes to complete a 6-4, 6-4 victory and punch her ticket in the Wimbledon second round for the second year in a row.

The Greek hammered 16 winners and accounted for 17 unforced errors in the match. That included three aces and one double fault. Sakkari landed 53% of first serves in play and won 70% of first serve points (21/30). Sakkari won 52% of second serve points (14/27) and saved one of four break points.

Sakkari has reached the Wimbledon third round at least four times in her career. Rybakina was the 2022 champion and has not lost before the quarterfinals in each of the last three years. Rybakina has never failed to reach the Wimbledon second week in all four previous visits to SW19.

Elena Rybakina vs Maria Sakkari Head-To-Head
Rybakina and Sakkari have met five times at all levels. Rybakina leads 4-1 and has defeated Sakkari in each of their last three meetings. They have played once in 2025 at the United Cup, and Rybakina won in straight sets. This will be their first clash on grass.

Elena Rybakina vs Maria Sakkari Prediction
Rybakina starts as the heavy favorite, which is to be expected. She’s one of the best grass court players of her generation and won Wimbledon three years ago, and it usually takes a supreme performance to take her out (the last two players to defeat her at Wimbledon went on to make the final, with Krejcikova winning it last year). Sakkari recently fell out of the Top 50 and while there have been signs of a renaissance this swing, I don’t see the Greek’s defense keeping up with Rybakina’s unerring power on grass.

Nur Said's Pick: Elena Rybakina in straight sets