Elena Rybakina Overcomes Olympic Champion to Reach Madrid Open Last 16

Kazakhstan’s No. 1 Elena Rybakina continued her pursuit of the WTA 1000 title in Madrid, securing a hard-fought comeback victory over reigning Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen.

The third-round encounter, which lasted 2 hours and 23 minutes, saw Rybakina demonstrate remarkable resilience. After Zheng claimed the opening set by capitalizing on an early break, Rybakina stabilized her game from the baseline. Leveraging her trademark power, the World No. 2 fired 7 aces and significantly reduced her unforced errors to swing the momentum in her favor.

Final score: 4:6, 6:4, 6:3.

Rybakina now advances to the round of 16, where she will face the winner of the matchup between Anastasia Potapova and Elena Ostapenko (Latvia) for a spot in the quarterfinals.