Elena Rybakina has equalled her career-best run at the French Open after beating Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina in straight sets.
The Kazakh fourth seed overcame some erratic hitting early on in the match to prevail 6-4, 6-3, over Svitolina, who is currently ranked 19th in the world. Rybakina, who is yet to drop a set in the tournament, has now recorded 43 Tour-level wins over top 20 players. In her latest match, she hit 26 winners and converted five out of seven break point chances.
“I’m really happy with the performance,” Rybakina said during her on-court interview.
“Elina is a tough opponent. We have played a couple of times and she is a great fighter. It is always difficult matches against her but I’m really happy with the way I played today.”
In what was their first meeting since the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Rybakina utilised her attacking skills and capitalised on some costly mistakes made by Svitolina. Breaking the Ukrainian twice in the opening set and then three times in the second. It wasn’t until the closing stage of the match, when Rybakina was a set and double-break up, that she faced stern resistance from a more free-hitting Svitolina, who reduced a 1-4 deficit to 3-4 in the second frame. Nevertheless, she held her nerve to seal victory in less than 70 minutes. Closing the match out with the help of a Svitolina forehand error.
It is only the second time that Rybakina has managed to reach the last eight at Roland Garros and the first since 2021when she beat Serena Williams before losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. She has now reached the quarter-final stage of nine tournaments this year which is the most she has ever achieved in a single season.
“I have been working a lot with my team,” the former Wimbledon champion explained.
“We are always trying to adjust my technique. Of course, on clay, it is a little bit more complicated for me with the movement as I’m tall.
“Overall, we are doing a good job and I’m really proud with how I have improved in the last few years.”
In the next round, Rybakina will play either 12th seed Jasmine Paolini or Russia’s Elina Avanesyan.
