Elena Rybakina cruised past Elina Svitolina in just 69 minutes to reach the French Open quarter-finals on Monday. (Full Coverage | Tennis News)
Rybakina was hardly troubled as she reached the fifth Grand Slam quarter-final of her career with a 6-4 6-3 success, maintaining her record of not dropping a set at Roland Garros this year.
The world number four relied on her strong serve – winning 77 per cent of points behind her first serve – and quick movement to the net as she broke in the opening game of both sets.
Svitolina managed to break back on both occasions, only for Rybakina to find an extra gear and pull away in relative comfort, teeing up a last-eight clash with either Jasmine Paolini or Elina Avanesyan.
Data Debrief: Rybakina enjoying best year yet
Rybakina is into her ninth WTA-level quarter-final of 2024, which is already a career high for a single year and is also more than any other player on the tour this term (Iga Swiatek is second with eight).
The Kazakhstani is also just the second woman from an Asian nation to reach multiple grand slam quarter-finals on both clay and grass in the Open Era, after Kazuko Sawamatsu.
