Elena Rybakina overcame a rocky start to come through her opening match at the Abu Dhabi Open on Wednesday.
The Kazakh world No.5 struggled to find rhythm in her shot-making early on and had to battle back from a set down to beat American qualifier Katie Volynets 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Playing her first match since the Australian Open, Rybakina’s roller-coaster performance featured 59 unforced errors against 43 winners. She struggled at times with her serve after getting broken in her first three service games of the match. Then in the final set, she failed to serve the match out when leading 5-3 but managed to seal victory in the following game.
“It was a really tough match,” said Rybakina.
“I’m happy that I managed to win and she played really well.
“I was struggling a bit with my opportunities in the first set, but overall I’m happy to get through.
“I was just trying to focus on each point because the conditions are quite slow, so I cannot hit a winner. I knew that the rallies were going to be difficult and I was just trying to focus on myself.”
Rybakina is bidding to become the first player to defend their title at the Abu Dhabi Open which became a fixture on the WTA Tour in 2021. She has now won 17 out of 20 matches played against players ranked outside the top 50 since the start of last year and is yet to lose to any of those players this season (5-0).
This week is the first WTA event Rybakina is playing under the guidance of new coach Davide Sanguinetti, who has been brought in to replace Groan Ivanisevic. Sanguinetti, who is a former top 50 player, has previously coached Dinara Safina and Brandon Nakashima.
Rybakina could next play Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur who will take on Japanese teenager Sonobe Wakana later today.
Elsewhere, former champion Belinda Bencic stormed into the quarter-finals by producing a perfect 6-0, 6-0, win over world No.16 Veronika Kudermetova. According to her ITF profile, it is the first time she has beaten a player without dropping a game since 2017 when she did so against Anastasia Gasanova at an ITF $100,000 event in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
“I expected a tough match and it was a tough match,” said Bencic.
“We fought every game. I’m very happy with my game and I’m very happy to be in the next round.”
Bencic, who is currently ranked outside the top 150, is playing in only her fourth WTA tournament since coming back to the Tour following the birth of her first child. So far this season, she has won eight matches across three tournaments played (including qualifying) with her best result being a run to the round round of the Australian Open.
Awaiting Bencic in the next round will be former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova who swept aside fourth seed Yulia Putintseva 6-2, 6-3. Vondrousova missed six months of the Tour last year due to a shoulder injury.
