(Melbourne) Elena Rybakina showed the way out of Australian Open favorite Iga Swiatek on Sunday, reaching the quarter-finals of this tournament for the first time in her career.
Rybakina, reigning Wimbledon champion and 22e seed in Melbourne, used her powerful serve to unseat Swiatek and had the best of the backcourt rally to win in straight sets 6-4, 6-4.
“I played well in the important moments, observed Rybakina. I get nervous every time I step onto the pitch. Like everyone else, I think. But I’m still calm. I try not to show my emotions too much. My trainer tells me that sometimes I have to show them so I’m also learning. »
Swiatek has won three career Grand Slams, including titles at Roland Garros and the US Open last season.
Rybakina’s ranking does not adequately reflect her skills or results because her Wimbledon title last July did not come with any ranking points.
The WTA and ATP Tours withheld all points at Wimbledon in 2022 after the tournament banned Russian and Belarusian players from participating due to the invasion of Ukraine.
Rybakina was born in Moscow, but has represented Kazakhstan since 2018, when the country offered her funds to support her tennis career.
Rybakina will now face Latvian Jelena Ostapenko (No. 17), who eliminated American Coco Gauff (No. 7) in straight sets 7-5, 6-3.
Against Swiatek, Rybakina had six aces and outshot her opponent 24-15 in winners.
Heading into Saturday’s match, Swiatek had shown her dominance by winning every set she entered in the tournament and had lost just 15 games in three matches.
This time the 21-year-old Polish was not at her best and Rybakina had her say. In the first game of the match, Swiatek was leading 40-0, but it was broken. In the next game, she had two break points, but she didn’t make any.
Rybakina got another break in the seventh game and won her serve twice to win the first set.
In the second set, Swiatek seemed to have regained her composure and took a 3-0 lead, but the Kazakh won six of the last seven games to advance to the quarterfinals.