Miami Open: Elena Rybakina ousts Elise Mertens to set quarterfinals clash against Martina Trevisan
Mar 28, 2023
Miami [US], March 28 : Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan kept her possibility of a Sunshine Double alive with a 6-4, 6-3 triumph over Belgium's Elise Mertens in the Round of 16 at the ongoing Miami Open on Monday.
Rybakina notched her 11th straight match win by defeating 39th-ranked Mertens in a match that lasted for one hour and 46 minutes.
In the quarterfinals, Rybakina will lock horns with No.25 seed C of Italy, who defeated No.24 seed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 6-3.
Mertens won the first serve break of the 3-3 encounter on Monday by scoring her fourth break point. However, Rybakina had a chance to break back right away in the following game after Mertens committed two double faults, which she took with a putaway in the forecourt.
At 5-4, Rybakina had another strong return game and three set points. On her third chance, Rybakina took use of her power plays to force a mistake long and win the opening set after falling behind a break.
In the second set, Rybakina prevailed after another drawn-out game by breaking for 2-0 on her fourth break point of the match by blocking a Mertens lob with a solid volley. Rybakina erased the four break points she faced at 3-1 in the second set to record the final break of the day.
"It was a really tough match today. Again, I didn't start the greatest, but happy that it was in two sets. ... For sure, physically I'm not the freshest, but I'm happy that I'm managing and finding my way. To be in the quarterfinal is great, and hopefully, I'm going to play better tomorrow," WTA.com quoted Rybakina as saying.
With her victory over former Miami Open finalist Ostapenko earlier, Trevisan secured a spot in the quarterfinals of a WTA 1000 event for the first time in her career.
"It means a lot because I never won a match here. Match after match I'm collecting experience that's helping me a lot, especially in this type of match when you play against an important player like Ostapenko. She has a lot of experience, more than me," Trevisan said.
