Rybakina Holds Six Match Points as She Surpasses Badosa in Epic Battle

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Elena Rybakina won three titles in 2024

Published 8 hours ago

Elena Rybakina demonstrated extraordinary resilience, saving six match points before securing a dramatic victory against Paula Badosa and advancing to the quarter-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships. Meanwhile, world number one Aryna Sabalenka suffered an unexpected defeat.

Kazakhstan’s Rybakina rallied from being down 6-3 in a second-set tie-break and also missed two potential match points on her serve at 6-5 in the decisive set with Badosa. Despite these setbacks, Rybakina persevered to claim a hard-fought victory with her first match point after an intense contest lasting over two hours and 49 minutes. Her six saved match points is a record for most by any player on route to a WTA Tour win since Tatjana Maria’s triumph over Emiliana Arango at Nottingham in June.

The world number seven will next face Sophia Kenin, who defeated Jasmine Paolini 6-4, 6-0 and ended the Italian runner-ups title defense. However, Paolini pulled out of doubles play after rolling her ankle earlier during the competition.

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Sabalenka stunned by Tauson Image source: Reuters Image caption: Sabalenka won the Australian Open and US Open last year

On Wednesday, Aryna Sabalenka was dealt a surprise setback when she lost to Denmarks Clara Tauson. Ranked 38th in the world, Tauson achieved her career’s biggest win by defeating three-time major champion Sabalenka with a score of 6-3 and 6-2, advancing to her first WTA 1000 quarter-final.

Sabalenka has yet to secure a title this year and experienced an early exit in Qatar earlier in the month when she lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova. Tauson will now face Czech player Linda Noskova, who unexpectedly defeated world number five Jessica Pegula with a 6-3 and 7-6 (10-8) win.

Additionally, second seed Iga Swiatek demonstrated dominance by winning eight consecutive games in the second set to overpower Dayana Yastremska with a decisive score of 7-5 and 6-0.