Rybakina beats Starodubtseva to reach US Open round of 16

World No. 2 Elena Rybakina advanced to the fourth round of the US Open after defeating Ukrainian tennis player Yuliia Starodubtseva 7:6 (8:6), 6:3. According to Asharq Al-Awsat, the Kazakh representative avenged her loss to Starodubtseva in the second round of the French Open.

A tense first set

In the opening set, Rybakina did not immediately find her rhythm and struggled with her forehand. Starodubtseva took advantage of this, broke serve and went ahead 5:4. However, Rybakina leveled the score with a cross-court drop shot.

In the tiebreak, the Kazakh tennis player saved a set point with one of her 12 aces in the match and won the set. In the second set, Rybakina broke at the start after a double fault by Starodubtseva and held onto her advantage. The match lasted just under two hours.

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Fight for the No. 1 spot

Rybakina called the match difficult and noted that it was not her best performance. At the same time, she praised Starodubtseva's play and said she was happy to win in two sets.

Rybakina, who won her second Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January, needs two more victories — to reach the semifinals — to be guaranteed to take over the world No. 1 ranking from Aryna Sabalenka. This will happen even if Sabalenka wins the US Open for the third consecutive time. In her next match, Rybakina will play four-time Grand Slam tournament winner Naomi Osaka, who defeated Belgium's Elise Mertens 6:3, 3:6, 7:5.

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