Rybakina wins 14th straight on clay and faces Czech surprise

Madrid (Spain) – Kazakh Elena Rybakina remains unbeatable on clay, winning her 14th consecutive victory on clay this Sunday. Champion in Stuttgart last week, she is now in the round of 16 of the Masters 1000 in Madrid, after overcoming Egyptian Mayar Sherif in straight sets, with the final score of 6/1 and 6/4.

The player with the most wins this season, totaling 28 so far, Rybakina has not fallen before the quarterfinals in any tournament in 2024 and will try to maintain her writing against the surprising Sara Bejlek, but a young Czech who is emerging on the circuit. The 18-year-old tennis player left the American Ashlyn Krueger behind, against whom she scored splits of 6/3 and 6/1

Ranked 136th at the start of the week, Bejlek made her debut in the main draw of a WTA 1000 after a successful qualifying campaign, then defeated Russians Anna Blinkova and Anna Kalinskaya in the first two rounds to record her first top 50 wins. , and now by overcoming Krueger she will challenge the number 4 in the world.

Rybakina controls the game from start to finish

The Kazakh’s favoritism was evident from the beginning, with a break in the second game of the match, which was very long and competitive, with Sherif saving six break points before losing serve. The Egyptian had a chance to return the break then, but she couldn’t and ended up losing the serve again. After opening 5/0, Rybakina had no trouble making it 1-0.

In the second half, the fourth favorite in Madrid was threatened in the second game, saving two break-points. The answer came immediately, with a break for Rybakina in the third. After that, she just managed the advantage until the end and celebrated her 14th straight victory on clay.

Rybakina’s last defeat on clay was in Madrid, in the second round of last year’s tournament. After that, she became champion in Rome last season and in Stuttgart this year. The Kazakh also scored two victories at Roland Garros, in 2023, abandoning the tournament before playing the third round.