Rybakina Rallies Past Maria To Reach Queen’s Club Quarter-Finals
Elena Rybakina rallied from near-defeat to overcome defending champion Tatjana Maria 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-0 at the Queen’s Club tournament in London.
The No.1 seed and 2022 Wimbledon Champion Rybakina was two points from defeat against defending champion Maria at 5-4 in the second set, but hit her stride to win the next nine games in a row, reversing the result of their quarterfinal encounter one year ago.
The match started at a tight pace. At 3-3 in the first set, Maria broke, but Rybakina reacted to level at 5-5. She then pushed the German to a tie-break, ultimately won 7-4 by the latter.
In the second set, Maria took the lead by breaking early and led 5-4, 30-0, two points from victory. But Rybakina managed to reverse the momentum at the best possible moment to win 7-5 and level the match.
The third set then turned into a demonstration. Completely dominant, the Kazakhstani player handed her opponent a 6-0 to race into the quarterfinals.
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She thus ended Tatjana Maria’s 10-match winning streak at Queen’s Club and will face British player Katie Boulter in the next round.