Elena Rybakina Shares One Key Similarity With Aryna Sabalenka Ahead of Their Encounter in Berlin

Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka have met ten times on tour with the latter leading 6-4 in their head-to-head record.

Elena Rybakina Shares One Key Similarity With Aryna Sabalenka Ahead of Their Encounter in Berlin

Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka (via X/The Tennis Letter)

Elena Rybakina is through to the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open after beating Katerina Siniakova in straight sets. The Kazakhstan star will now face her fierce rival Aryna Sabalenka next in the WTA 500 tournament. Ahead of the meeting, she revealed one key similarity that she shared with the World No.1.

Rybakina lost in the last eight at the Queen’s Club Championships to the eventual champion Tatjana Maria last week, but has bounced back in the German capital winning her first two matches. On Thursday (June 19), she was tested by doubles specialist Siniakova, but she prevailed in 6-4, 7-6(5).

On the other hand, Sabalenka is into the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open after she defeated Rebeka Masarova in straight sets. It will be the eleventh meeting between the two and their first on a grass-court since 2021. Also, it will be their first meeting on tour this season.

Speaking on the court after the win over Siniakova, Rybakina said that she and Sabalenka both share an aggressive style of tennis. The former Wimbledon champion then added that she hopes to improve on her serve ahead of their meeting:

We both play aggressively, I don’t think either of us like to defend. We’ll see how it goes, I’ll definitely try to do my best, and hopefully I can improve my serve a bit for tomorrow. It was a tough match [against Siniakova], and I was struggling a bit with the serve – that’s why it was a bit more difficult for me, but I’m happy I managed to win in two sets.

Rybakina and Sabalenka’s first meeting was at the China Open in 2019, where the latter claimed her first win in their head-to-head in three sets. Then their next three meetings went in favor of Sabalenka as well, including the 2023 Australian Open final win. However, it was at Indian Wells that same year that Rybakina finally earned her first victory over the Belarusian star.

She carried on beating Sabalenka again at the 2023 China Open. Since then, both players have shared two victories, but the Kazakhstan star won their most recent meeting at the 2024 WTA Finals in Riyadh. Currently, Sabalenka leads their head-to-head record 6-4 ahead of their quarter-finals clash at the Berlin Open.

Aryna Sabalenka defeats Rebeka Masarova to reach the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open

Fresh from her Roland Garros final disappointment, Sabalenka kicked off her grass-court season in style with a gritty performance at the Berlin Open. However, the World No.1 and top seed weathered an overnight delay after the first set, then came down from 2-4 to beat qualifier Rebeka Masarova.

Aryna Sabalenka Roland Garros French Open 2025
Aryna Sabalenka (image via Instagram/WTA)

Wednesday’s (June 18) first set was an easy walk in the park for Sabalenka as she saved all break points she faced. But on Thursday’s (June 19) resumption, Masarova pushed the three-time Grand Slam winner to the limit with her powerful serving and drop shots. The Spaniard was 4-2 up before Sabalenka reacted with a fine stretch volley winner, rallying back into the match for 4-4.

However, Masarova still had her eyes set on her second career top 10 win after leading 5-4, but Sabalenka pegged back the World No.112, forcing the match to a tie-break. She then converted three match points to seal the victory 6-2, 7-6 in Berlin.

Sabalenka won 37 of 49 points on first serve, while she saved seven of the eight break points she faced (88%). Also, she forced 12 break points of her own, while converting only three of them. The World No.1 will now seek to reach the semi-finals of her first grass-court tournament this season by beating Elena Rybakina in the last eight.

Also Read: Alexander Zverev Rushes to Help 62-year-old Spectator After Advertising Board Falls on Her at Halle Open