Elena Rybakina booked her place in the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open after overcoming a first-set wobble to beat Rebecca Sramkova in straight sets on Wednesday. (More Tennis News)
꧒Rybakina led the opening set 3-0 before her opponent roared back, but the world number seven responded well to earn a 7-6 (7-1) 6-2 victory in one hour and 24 minutes.
👍The Kazakh started strongly, breaking Sramkova in her opening service game to race clear, but lost the following three games to level the contest.
𒉰Back-to-back breaks saw the opener taken to a decider, with Rybakina asserting her dominance with a ruthless display to claim the early advantage at a canter.
🧸Rybakina started the second set as she meant to go on, speeding into a 4-0 lead before her opponent got her first game on the board.
⛄But the world number seven followed that up by serving to love, closing out the encounter soon after with a rasping serve that Sramkova returned, but sent long.
♓Rybakina will face either Linda Noskova or Iga Swiatek in the next round of the competition.
Data Debrief: 13 not unlucky for Rybakina
🐠With Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff suffering shock early exits from the competition, only Swiatek, Jessica Pegula and Jasmine Paolini are ranked above Rybakina in the WTA rankings left in Qatar.
ܫAnd the Kazakh will fancy her chances of claiming a ninth WTA title after a strong showing on Tuesday. She won 90% (27/30) of her first-serve points while also serving four aces to Sramkova's two.
🐲Rybakina also reached her 13th quarter-final from 32 WTA-1000 main draws – among Asian players since 2009, only Li Na (53.7%) has reached WTA-1000 quarter-finals at a higher rate than her (40.6%).
