Rybakina stuns Swiatek in battle of Slam champs

Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina shocked top seed Iga Swiatek 6-4, 6-3 on Sunday to win a high-profile battle of current Grand Slam champions.

The Kazakh fired over an ace for three match points against the Pole and finished with a forehand winner second later to earn the upset of the three-time titlewinner at the majors.

Swiatek lost for only the second time this season following her defeat at the United Cup by Jessica Pegula.

“It was a really tough match, I respect Iga,” the winner said.

“Today I served really well, even if I was struggling a bit on one side.

“But in the important moments I played good so that made the difference.”

Rybakina, who did not earn ranking points for her Wimbledon run due to WTA sanctions on the club for banning Russian and Belarus players, will bid for the quarter-final against the winner from Coco Gauff and former Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko.

Bill Scott

Recent Posts

Halep seething over Swiatek wrist-slap doping penalty

Doping sanction victim Simona Halep has gone online to protest her own treatment by anti-doping…

3 weeks ago

Nadal goes down in final match

Rafael Nadal lined up for what was to be the final match of his career…

1 month ago

Sinner flattens de Minaur in runaway home start

Jannik Sinner took charge in front of his home crowd on Sunday, crushing ATP Finals…

1 month ago

Madcap Medvedev suffers temperamental Turin Finals loss

Daniil Medvedev went into meltdown mode on Sunday during a highly charged 6-4, 6-3 loss, with opponent…

1 month ago

Team Sinner considering skipping Monte Carlo

Jannik Sinner could well be missing from the opening European clay event of next season…

1 month ago

Davis Cup Final to mark Nadal goodbye to tennis

Rafael Nadal will bring down the curtain on his career next month as he plays his…

2 months ago