The Cincinnati Masters’ No. 4 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan defeated Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday in a matchup of past Grand Slam champions to advance to the Round of 16.
The 2017 Roland Garros champion Ostapenko faced off against Rybakina on Wednesday night, and Rybakina came from behind to win in 2 hours and 17 minutes and take a 3-2 lead.
For a place in the quarterfinals, Rybakina will compete against Italian qualifier Jasmine Paolini on Thursday. Earlier on Wednesday, Paolini overcame Spanish qualifier Cristina Bucsa 6-1, 6-3.
The World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, on the other hand, was also forced into three sets in her opening match before defeating Ann Li, ranked 192, 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, to advance in two hours and three minutes.
Sabalenka, a semifinalist the previous year, battled against Li’s all-court game before regaining composure in the third set to win.
The winner of the Australian Open will next play Daria Kasatkina on Friday in the round of 16.
Iga Swiatek, the world’s top player, upset Danielle Collins, who was ranked 34th, by a score of 6-1, 6-0, on Wednesday in the second round of the Western & Southern Open.
Swiatek defeated former World No. 7 Collins in just 59 minutes to advance to the Cincinnati Round of 16 for the second consecutive year and defeat her in five matches. There, she will face Chinese star Qinwen Zheng.
The Pole has held the top spot for an uninterrupted period of 72 weeks, starting on April 4, 2022, when she first rose to it. At World No. 1, it is the tenth-longest streak.
Only Martina Hingis (80 weeks) and Stefanie Graf (186 weeks) have retained the top spot for longer periods of time in their initial tenures.
-IANS
