Rybakina Shows Why Consistency Matters Most In Stuttgart

Elena Rybakina
Elena Rybakina (photo: Porsche AG)

STUTTGART/WASHINGTON, April 19, 2024 (by Michael Dickens)

World No. 4 and fourth seed Elena Rybakina booked her place in her first Porsche Tennis Grand Prix quarterfinal on Thursday afternoon despite scoring six fewer points than her opponent, No. 19 Veronika Kudermetova. However, it’s the final score that counts the most and the Russian-born Rybakina, who represents Kazakhstan, beat her Russian opponent, 7-6 (3), 1-6, 6-4, in two hours and 33 minutes to move into the last eight in Stuttgart.

“Lots of ups and downs from my side,” Rybakina said in her on-court interview. “It’s my first match on clay, so I am still getting used to the surface. After the first set – a long set (68 minutes) – my energy level went down. It wasn’t easy to come back but I’m really happy I managed to win.”

Rybakina’s success can be measured in her consistency this season. In the eight WTA Tour events she’s competed in, the former Wimbledon titlist has reached the quarterfinal round or better seven times, including at Brisbane, Adelaide, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Dubai, Miami and Stuttgart. She won the Brisbane and Abu Dhabi titles and was runner-up at Doha and Miami. The only time this season she’s not made the quarterfinals was at the Australian Open, when she lost in the second round to Anna Blinkova of Russia.

The win Thursday improved Rybakina’s 2024 won-loss record to 23-4. She is one of a quartet of players who have won two titles this season, along with Iga Swiatek, Danielle Collins and Jelena Ostapenko.

Against Kudermetova, despite being outpointed 100-96, Rybakina hit nine aces and 32 overall winners, and converted four of nine break points, including on match point when Kudermetova stroked an 11th-shot forehand wide. It was Rybakina’s fourth career win over the Russian in four meetings – the first on clay – and it prevented Kudermetova from garnering her 17th career victory against a Top 10 opponent.

“I’m just happy that in the end I could turn it around,” Rybakina said in her news conference, after reaching the Stuttgart quarterfinals in her third tournament appearance. “And even though I had these ups and downs, I was leading in the third set, lost couple of games, but managed to win.”

Rybakina’s quarterfinal opponent will be Dubai champion Jasmine Paolini of Italy, who is through to her second quarterfinal in 2024 following her memorable week in the Emirates last February.

The No. 14 Paolini, who will rise to No. 13 in the WTA Rankings next week, came into the second-round match seeking her fourth win over a Top-10 player and beat World No. 9 and seventh seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, 7-6 (8), 6-4, in an hour and 46 minutes.

Paolini denied Jabeur a second straight Top-20 triumph by outpointing her 84-77, and by taking advantage of 32 unforced errors by the Tunisian, including on match point, as Jabeur hit a fourth-shot backhand wide right of the sideline. The 28-year-old, diminutive Italian hit 18 winners, won 13 points at the net and withstood 34 winners hit by Jabeur. She also saved two set points during a first set tie-break, which was a difference maker.

“I really enjoyed today in front of you against one of the best players in the world in Ons,” Paolini said in her on-court interview, giving praise to her opponent and to the fans for the support. “Such a nice person, I think she’s so good for our sport. I think I played a really nice match. It’s a great atmosphere here, it’s unbelievable. I’m happy with the win.”

Later, in her news conference, Paolini added: “I played a really good first round, so I was, you know, confident. But also, at the same time, it’s not easy to play against Ons. I already lost two times with her.

“I was focusing on my game, and I knew what expect from her, because I know her a little bit better. … I think I serve well, but also, I return well. Yeah, I think that was the key of the match, but was not easy to play against her, of course. I tried to stay focused and, yeah, to enjoy the match.”

Swiatek remains undefeated in Stuttgart

It took World No. 1 and two-time defending champion Iga Swiatek four match points to finally defeat No. 30 Elise Mertens in Thursday evening’s featured match. But the Polish superstar, who was facing the Belgian No. 1 for the first time, got the job done and remained undefeated (9-0) in Stuttgart. Swiatek won 6-3, 6-4 in an hour and 33 minutes to improve to 25-3 this season. She has already won two titles in 2024, both 1000 series at Doha and at Indian Wells, on hard courts.

Swiatek, who was playing in her first match on clay since winning the 2023 French Open title, advanced to her third consecutive Stuttgart quarterfinal after winning 75 percent of his first-serve points, hitting 25 winners to just 14 unforced errors, converting four of six break points and outpointing Mertens 64-49.

“Well, I’m really happy with the way I played,” Swiatek told reporters afterward. “First match on clay, so it’s always tricky. Elise was really good.

“Sometimes, at defense, I had to be patient and really work for the points. So, I’m happy with the way I handled it.”

Despite her unblemished record inside Porsche Arena, Swiatek doesn’t take it for granted. “Honestly, I wasn’t really thinking about it. I’ve played many tough matches here,” she said. “It doesn’t really matter what’s happened in the past. I just want to play with as much intensity as I can and get used to the court.”

Next, Swiatek will play 303rd-ranked British wild card and Porsche Brand Ambassador Emma Raducanu, who dominated No. 31 Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic from the outset and won 6-0, 7-5 in an hour and 19 minutes to reach her second Stuttgart quarterfinal. Raducanu improved to 2-0 lifetime against the 19-year-old Czech teenager. Raducanu has won four straight matches and six of her last seven.

The 21-year-old British wonder, whose serve was not broken and faced just two break points, earned her first bagel set of the season and built upon it. She won 75 percent of her first-serve points, hit 18 winners, made just seven unforced errors and took advantage of Noskova’s 31 unforced errors. Raducanu outpointed her opponent 69-47.

“I’ve been working really hard on the training court, so I knew it was just a matter of time,” Raducanu said in her on-court interview. “Honestly, I don’t think this is my best. I still have a long ways to go. Im just really happy about the rewards that are starting to come on the match court. You know how it is when you train day-in and day-out. You feel the results aren’t exactly going your way. It’s never that far away, I guess. That’s something I’ve been learning, just doing the right things every single day.”

Swiatek praised Raducanu in her news conference. “She seems like she’s getting her game back together, so it’s great to see that, because for sure she has potential,” Swiatek said. “Yeah, well, it’s not going to be easy. She knows how to spin the ball and how to move on clay, as well.”

No. 2 seeds Krejcikova and Siegemund advance to doubles semifinals

No. 2 seeds Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Laura Siegemund of Germany, the only seeded team remaining of the four that started the week, advanced to the doubles semifinals with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova and Diana Shnaider in 66 minutes on Court 1. The winners converted five of nine break points and outpointed their opponents 56-36.

In the other doubles quarterfinals, German wild cards Nastasja Schunk and Ella Seidel lost to Hao-Ching Chan of Taiwan and Veronika Kudermetova of Russia, 6-1, 6-2, and Ulrikke Eikeri of Norway and Ingrid Neel of Estonia rallied to  beat Russians Anastasia Potapova and Vera Zvonareva, 3-6, 6-4, 10-3.

Meanwhile, unseeded Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States and Zhang Shuai of China received a walkover in the semifinals over Paula Badosa of Spain and Ons Jabeur of Tunisia. Badosa suffered a left thigh injury during her second-round singles match against No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka Tuesday night and was forced to retire.

In Saturday’s semifinal round, Chan and Kudermetova will play Mattek-Sands and Zhang, while Krejcikova and Siegemund will face Eikeri and Neel.

Around the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix

• No. 6 seed Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic needed only 77 minutes to defeat No. 36 Anastasia Potapova of Russia, 7-6 (5), 6-1, on Court 1 to advance to the quarterfinals. The reigning Wimbledon champion won 78 percent of her first-serve points, hit four aces and broke Potapova’s serve three times. She outpointed her opponent 73-50. On Friday, Vondrousova will play three-time Stuttgart finalist and this year’s No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus for a berth in the semifinal round.

• No. 5 seed Zheng Qinwen of China and No. 27 Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine played in the final match on Thursday with a quarterfinal berth against World No. 3 and third seed Coco Gauff of the United States at stake – and it was a memorable one that had a late-night, thrilling finish that ended just before midnight.

That’s because Kostyuk saved five match points during a six-deuce, 18-point tenth game of the third set to level the score at 5-all. Then, she held serve and broke Zheng in the 12th game and won on her second match point to wrap up a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 victory in two hours and 40 minutes over the World No. 7 Zheng to advance to the last eight.

Zheng was denied a third tour-level clay-court quarterfinal (after Rome and Palermo, both in 2023), while Kostyuk reached her fifth quarterfinal of this season after Adelaide, the Australian Open, San Diego, and Indian Wells. Her triumph over Zheng was her fifth career Top-10 win.

Kostyuk overcame eight double faults and 32 unforced errors to hit 31 winners. Also, she converted four of 14 break points and outpointed Zheng 109-103.

“I think even if I lost this match I would still be pretty happy how I kept myself together today,” Kostyuk said in her on-court interview. “It’s never easy when you’re playing a Top-10 player or someone who is really good. … I knew I needed to do something extra. It adds more pressure during the match. It’s a really good win.”

By the numbers

• Great Britain’s Emma Raducanu has won four straight matches for the first time since she won the 2021 US Open title. She’s also won six of her last seven matches.

• Through the first five days of this year’s Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, attendance has reached 13,400 spectators. Last weekend’s qualifying drew 5,200 fans and the first three days of the main draw have seen 8,200 fans come to Porsche Arena, including 3,200 on Wednesday.

“Quotable …”

• “I think Jannik is doing unbelievable. It’s nice to see him doing amazing things. He’s inspiring me and a lot of [Italians] who are playing tennis.”

— Jasmine Paolini, during her on-court interview, on the influence that men’s World No. 2 Jannik Sinner of Italy has had on her and other Italian players.

• “I think it’s very important in this competitive atmosphere to have a friend. I love this girl, and I feel so bad, [she’s] not feeling her best and I literally was about to cry.

“I feel for her and I really hope that she’s gonna recover as soon as possible, and that she’ll be ready for Madrid. Once again, I’m really grateful to have such a friend like Paula.”

— Aryna Sabalenka, as quoted by the WTA Tour website, following the second-round injury retirement of Paula Badosa early Wednesday.

Thursday’s Porsche Tennis Grand Prix results

Friday’s Porsche Tennis Grand Prix order of play

 

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