Rybakina Qualifies To Rome Quaerters for The First Time As Ostapenko Eliminates Kastakina
Elena Rybakina has reached her first WTA 1000 quarter-final on clay in her career after a confident straight sets win over Marketa Vondrousova on Centre Court. Rybakina is looking to win her second WTA 1000 title, having already won Indian Wells in March. Rybakina had never gone beyond the third round in Rome until this year. No. 8 seed Daria Kasatkina is out after losing to Jelena Ostapenko.
Elena Rybakina is through to the quarter-finals of the Italian Open for the first time in her career after a 6-3 6-3 win over Marketa Vondrousova.
The world No. 7 brushed aside her opponent in one hour and 14 minutes at the Foro Italico to grab her 16th WTA 1000 win in 2023 and will play either world No. 1 Iga Swiatek or Donna Vekic in the next round.
The 2022 Wimbledon champion and 2023 Australian Open finalist was more clinical with her break points, converting five out of seven compared to Vondrousova’s two out of eight.
After going a break down in the very first game of the match, Rybakina broke back instantly in the second game before doing so again in the fourth.
Vondrousova had a further five break points to get back into the set, but Rybakina recovered from all of them to win the opener in 35 minutes.
Momentum was firmly with Rybakina who reeled off four games in a row at the start of the second set.
Vondrousova pulled back three successive games to make it 4-3, but Rybakina snatched the next two games to seal her place in the last eight.
Jelena Ostapenko knocked out No. 8 seed Daria Kasatkina 6-4 4-6 6-0 to progress to her second quarter-final of the season.
No. 22 seed Zheng Qinwen has reached the second WTA 1000 quarter-final of her career at after beating compatriot Wang Xiyu 6-4 3-6 6-1 in two hours and 30 minutes.
She will face No. 11 seed Veronika Kudermetova, who needed just 79 minutes to beat No. 27 seed Marie Bouzkova 6-2 6-2.
Earlier in the day, world No. 23 Madison Keys was knocked out by Anhelina Kalinina 2-6 6-2 6-4.
Kalinina will play Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia next after she beat Camila Osorio 6-3 6-3.
