FORMER Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina secured a hard-fought victory over Dayana Yastremska, winning 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 to book her spot in the quarter-finals of the WTA Canadian Open.
The ninth-seeded Kazakh faced a tough challenge but ultimately prevailed to set up a clash with Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk.
Rybakina, who claimed her first title in over a year at Strasbourg in May, struggled with nine double faults but managed to recover after dropping the first set.
Yastremska capitalised on Rybakina’s early serving struggles, rallying from 40-0 down in the opening set to take the lead.
However, Rybakina responded strongly, breaking twice in the second set to level the match.
The decider saw another momentum shift as a double fault handed Yastremska a break, but Rybakina broke back late to lead 6-5 before sealing the win on her fourth match point with a backhand volley.
“It was a tough match, but I’m happy to get through,“ Rybakina said post-match.
Kostyuk, her next opponent, staged her own comeback to defeat American McCartney Kessler 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.
The Ukrainian admitted her recent struggles, saying, “I hadn’t won a match in three months before this tournament. I didn’t have a lot of confidence coming into it.”
Meanwhile, top seed Coco Gauff prepared for her night session clash against Canadian wildcard Victoria Mboko.
The 18-year-old Mboko, making her main draw debut, expressed excitement about facing Gauff, whom she pushed to three sets in Rome earlier this year.
“She’s the number one seed. I’m expecting a hard fight,“ Mboko said.
The winner of Gauff-Mboko will face either China’s Zhu Lin or Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, both aiming for their first WTA 1000 quarter-final.
Zhu, once ranked 31st, has battled injuries, dropping to 493rd after extended absences. – AFP
