Madrid Open: Elena Rybakina survives gruelling quarter final game vs Yulia Putintseva to qualify for semi finals

The Madrid Open is almost coming to an end, especially the WTA 1000 who have got their top 4 fixed. The first semi-final players are already decided as Iga Swiatek will take on Madison Keys. It is only the other two that were left with two quarter-finals left. The last two matches have also featured two top-ranked WTA players Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina. 

The quarter-final game was between world number 4 and 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina who was up against Yulia Putintseva. There was never any doubt that Rybakina was the favourite to win against a lower-seeded Kazakhstani Player Yulia Putintseva who beat Daria Kasatkina to make it to the quarter-finals of the tournaments. With how the clay season has surprised us it is safe to say that there are not many guaranteed matches.

Rybakina wins an intense encounter

Rybakina was coming from a great victory at Stuttgart and was definitely someone who was a favourite to win. Everyone at least thought that she would take the first set, but unfortunately, it was Putintseva who broke the serve and went on to win the first set 6-4. It was important for Rybakina to come back strong and despite another gruelling second set she managed to make a comeback after winning the tiebreaker. The last set was do or die for both and turned out to be another battle. It was the world number 4 who broke the serve and went on to qualify for the semi-finals.

This was the perfect example of a match which went the full distance with both players battling it out on the court. It was Rybakina in the end who kept her composure and made sure she fixed her place in the semis. She will still have a tough tournament ahead as she is to face either Mirra Andreeva or one of her famous rivals Aryna Sabalenka in the next game. This is a set-up for some big matches in the WTA clay season.