The fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan) has reached her second quarter-final at the French Open. She defeated Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) by 2-0 (6:4, 6:3) in 69 minutes and advanced in the next round of the Grand Slam tournament.
After a slow start in which both lost serve, the Russian-born Elena Rybakina improved her play and another break was enough for her to take the first set.
In the second set, the 29-year-old Elina Svitolina again could not cope with the strong shots of her opponent, and also showed signs of fatigue.
“I’m really happy with my performance. She’s a great fighter, it’s hard to beat her, but I’m happy to be successful. I’m proud of how I’ve improved over the last few years and I’m happy to finally be playing under an open roof at nice weather”, said Elena Rybakina.
Odessa-born Elina Svitolina has reached the quarter-finals four times, including in 2023, but has now failed to trouble the former Wimbledon champion.
Elena Rybakina, who reached the top eight in Paris for the first time since 2021, will be in contention for a place in the semi-finals against 12th-seeded Italian Jasmine Paolini, who eliminated Elina Avanesyan (Russia) after 2-1 (4:6, 6:0, 6:1) in 1:54 hours. She will be playing in this phase of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in her career.
“I am very happy. It was difficult, especially at the beginning. But then I did a good job”, said Jasmine Paolini after the match.
