Jelena Rybakina (25th WTA) on Sunday defeated Iga Świątek (1st WTA) 6:4, 6:4 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. For last year’s Wimbledon winner, it was the best result in the Australian tournament in her career and another chance to fight for a second Grand Slam title.
The slayer of Iga Świątek continues to play in the Australian Open. This is her best result
In the quarterfinals, Iga Świątek defeated Jelena Ostapenko (17th WTA). Kazaszka also this time, as it turned out, had no major problems and after 81 minutes she advanced to the semi-finals, further screwing up her best result in the Australian Open.
Rybakina broke her rival in the first game. The next three games were confidently won by the servers, until game number five, when Rybakina broke the Latvian again and it became clear that this set would fall to her. Ostapenko had two break points in the next game but didn’t convert them. She eventually lost the set 2-6.
The second started much better for her, because she led 2:0, but she enjoyed it very briefly, because in the next game she lost her serve. The fourth game was the longest in the entire match and perhaps the key one. The ladies played 13 actions, and the Latvian had four break points, but she did not use a single one, thanks to which Rybakina defended her serve, and in the next game she broke her rival again. She never gave up that advantage. She won the set 6:4 and finally triumphed.
Jelena Rybakina has won five matches at the Australian Open, four of them without dropping a set. In addition, she eliminated three higher-seeded players from the tournament – apart from Iga Świątek and Jelena Ostapenko, she also threw Daniele Collins (11th WTA) overboard. Good form allows the player from Kazakhstan to believe in the final triumph and convinces herself that she has made great progress over the past year.
– I gained a lot of experience, which Wimbledon gave me in the first place. I feel like I’m playing well and I’m well prepared. When you train hard, there comes a time when you win matches – the tennis player argued after the match with Świątek.
Now Rybakina can calmly wait for her semi-final rival. It will be the winner of the match between Jessica Pegula (3rd WTA) and Wiktoria Azarenka (24th WTA).
Source: Sport
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