Elina Svitolina Opens Up on Mentally Demanding Victory over Elena Rybakina at the Italian Open

Elina Svitolina advanced to the semi-finals of the Italian Open after overcoming Elena Rybakina in three sets. The tie, which lasted 2 hours and 23 minutes, was one of the most thrilling quarter-final clashes in the women’s singles at the tournament, as Svitolina overturned a slow start and survived sustained pressure.

The quarter-final between Rybakina and Svitolina hinged on break-point management, which was down to the mental demands of the tie. Svitolina faced 20 break points in total and saved 16 of them, repeatedly escaping critical moments against the World No.2. The statistical imbalance underlined the scale of her defensive work.

Svitolina had lost to Rybakina at the Indian Wells Open in straight sets and was seeking revenge. However, she didn’t begin the match as she had wanted. Rybakina prevailed in the first 6-2 and was seeking to make an easy run to the final. But Svitolina reacted well in the second set, breaking the Kazakhstan star in the tenth game.

The Ukrainian star made sure to stabilize her baseline patterns and improve her return depth. Svitolina was better in the crucial moments of the match and ultimately claimed the victory, despite her serve numbers being lower than Rybakina’s. She earned 55 percent of first serve points against Rybakina’s 59.

Svitolina continued her dominance in the third set and claimed the win 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 after two hours at the Foro Italico. The win was Svitolina’s first against Rybakina since the Madrid Open last year. Speaking after the victory, Svitolina was satisfied with her performance and the manner in which she fought:

I’m very happy with my performance today. Elena (Rybakina) is a great champion, and today I really needed to play my best tennis and have the right mindset. I’m just glad I could control my emotions on the last points. The conditions are quite slow here, and you have to take that into account, try to find tactical solutions and ways to make it difficult for my opponent. I’m very satisfied with how I managed to regroup after losing the first set.

Svitolina will now face Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals of the Rome Open. Swiatek claimed her first top 10 win of the season against Jessica Pegula in the quarter-finals and has been in top form since the start of the Italian Open. The former champion has dropped just one set at the tournament and will be looking to reach her first final of the year.

Elena Rybakina misses a chance to close the gap between her and Aryna Sabalenka in the WTA rankings

Elena Rybakina missed a huge chance to close the gap between her and Aryna Sabalenka at the top of the WTA rankings. Sabalenka has been World No.1 in the rankings for 82 consecutive weeks, with her current stint dating back to October 2014. Rybakina’s title victories at the Australian Open and Stuttgart have helped her close the gap on Sabalenka’s lead.

Sabalenka started the Italian Open with 10,110 points in the WTA rankings with Rybakina 1,555 points adrift in second place on 8,555 while Iga Swiatek in World No.3 was 1,607 points behind the Belarusian star. Sabalenka suffered a shocking third-round loss against Sorana Cirstea, resulting in a 150-point loss as she was defending just 215 points.

That means her tally in the WTA Live Rankings has been reduced to 9,960 points. However, Rybakina, who was defending 65 points, reached the quarter-finals in Rome this year, which reduced the lead to just 1,255 points. While that looks good for Rybakina now, it doesn’t look well by next week, as she has announced that she will not play the Strasbourg Open.

Rybakina won the Strasbourg Open last year ahead of the French Open. But following her decision to skip the tournament, it means that 500 points will be deducted from her. That means the gap between Sabalenka and Rybakina will increase by 1,755 points, and that will reduce the pressure on the Belarusian star.

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