H2H: Ashleigh Barty vs. Elina Svitolina - Prediction (WTA Shenzhen

Preview and players comparison.

Barty has never defeated Svitolina in their five previous meetings. At best, she has managed to claim a set twice, in their very first encounter, at 2017 Fed Cup, and their latest, at Indian Wells this year. Svitolina has won her last six meetings with top-ranked players; the latest one came in 2018 Rome (Halep).

World no. 1 Ashleigh Barty reaches a tour-leading sixth final of the year following a comeback win against Karolina Pliskova, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. She fended off 11/12 breakpoints and registered 36 winners to just 26 unforced errors. The top seed outshined the season ace-leader in that department: eleven to one. Barty has gone 3-2 in finals this season, prevailing at Roland Garros (d. Vondrousova), Miami (d. Ka. Pliskova), and Birmingham (d. Goerges), but finishing second at Sydney (l. Kvitova) and Beijing (l. Osaka). A triumph on Sunday will level her with former world no. 1 Pliskova as the season leader in trophies. Just one Australian has ever lifted the WTA Finals trophy in singles: Evonne Goolagong Cawley (1974, 76). Barty is aiming to become the sixth-ever player to win this tournament on her debut, with the two most recent such instances coming in 2011 in Istanbul (Kvitova) and 2016 in Singapore (Cibulkova).

Defending champion Elina Svitolina dropped a set for the first time this week but survived the semifinal as debutante Belinda Bencic retired just before the two-hour mark. The Swiss was trailing 5-7, 6-3, 4-1 when she threw the towel due to a right leg issue, making it the third retirement of the tournament. Svitolina has already successfully mounted a title defense campaign three times in her career: Baku in 2013-14, Dubai and Rome in 2017-18. The 25-year-old is bidding to become the seventh player to do so at the WTA Finals and just the second in the last twelve years (S. Williams, 2012-14). Svitolina entered the tournament without a top 5 win or a final appearance in the season. On Sunday, she will look to extend her streak of winning at least one WTA title every season, something that started in 2013. Her career’s final win-loss stands at a brilliant 13-2, not tasting defeat in the last nine.